Nightwing: Origins
by capricorn66
Summary: Sick of overprotective teammates and Leaguers, Richard Grayson makes a decision that will change his life forever. An AU take on the creation of Nightwing. Will include Red Hood, Tim, and maybe some Deathstroke. Rated T for language.
1. Disappointments

**A/N: Several things about this story:**

**1.) It's an AU, completely and entirely! Roy isn't a clone, the Light probably won't exist, Jason is going to be older...Many examples of why this is an AU.**

**2.)I typed this up a loooooong (not really that long, but still) time ago. I am aware of what in inaccurate.**

**3.)OOCness will probably occur...**

**4.)I own absolutely nothing.**

**Alrighty, I think that's it for now. Onwards and upwards! Here is the story!**

* * *

**Ch. 1- Disappointments **

* * *

"_You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It won't happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, 'I don't care how hard this is, I don't care how disappointed I am, I'm not going to let this get the best of me. I'm moving on with my life."_  
_― __Joel Osteen__,_ _Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential_

* * *

"You're benching me!?" a frustrated Robin shouted at Aqualad.

"Robin, you must understand that we are up against an enemy with skills that we have yet to witness. As it is yet unsure whether or not he has superhuman abilities it is safest if you remain here," the leader attempted to explain.

After hearing of the potential danger their latest mission against a man known as Deathstroke could have, the team instantly became concerned for their youngest member's safety. He had, after all, just bounced back from a rather nasty stab wound. The team decided to take a vote on the matter and the majority vote said no. Aqualad, as the leader, had to break the news to the kid.

"Artemis is human too! I don't see you holding her back!" Aqualad looked around the room for assistance, but everyone else had already gone to the Bio-Ship.

"We need her for long range attacks," the Atlantian explained.

"I can throw Birdarangs," Robin deadpanned.

"I apologize, Robin, but seeing as you are recently healed we do not wish to see you injured so soon. You cannot come," Aqualad visibly saw the younger boy's jaw tense, but that was all the emotion he got.

"Fine," the Boy Wonder's voice was completely level, "Don't expect to see me when you get back," with that he turned his back on Kaldur and walked down the nearby hall.

Once the younger teen was out of sight, Aqualad immediately relaxed. It was times like this when Kaldur saw Robin's inner Batman, and it terrified him.

"Hey, Kaldur, did you tell him yet?" Kid Flash asked seemingly materializing next to the Atlantian.

"Yes."

"You're still alive?" Wally asked in amazement.

"Yes, but I do fear that we made a mistake in this decision," Kaldur said.

"Of course _you_ all did!" the speedster shouted. He'd been the only one against Robin's benching.

"We can discuss this later. First we have a mission to complete." KF nodded in agreement and the two stalked toward the Bio-Ship.

* * *

Robin's argument with Kaldur was only the beginning. The next day, while on patrol with Batman, strike two happened. The night had started relatively normal, a bank robbery here, a hostage situation there, but then things took a turn downhill. Apparently the Joker was free again, only this time he had Harley with him. Robin saw nothing new with this situation, but for some reason Batman was feeling particularly protective. The Boy Wonder was sent home.

Once at the mansion, Robin, or Dick Grayson as he was once again, went straight to his room. He was getting real sick of all of the coddling lately. Seriously, the doctor cleared him to return to his normal activities three days ago, why was everyone _still_ worried? First the team, where he was the most experienced, and then Batman. Dick understood that some things were too dangerous for him, but he'd fought the Joker before. He was thirteen years old now. He could handle himself.

"Master Richard," Alfred's voice pulled the boy from his thoughts.

"Yes Alfred?" he asked looking up from the floor he'd been glaring at.

"Master Bruce wanted me to tell you that-"

Dick let out a hollow chuckle, "He can't make it?"

Alfred nodded.

"Yeah, I expected as much. If he manages to call back before fighting the Joker, tell him I'm unavailable if he wants to talk," he shook his head and chuckled again, "Is it a problem when I'm more surprised to see him than I am when he's gone?" then quieter he added, "I guess being Robin changed nothing."

"Master Richard," Alfred said gently, "Master Bruce does care for you."

"I know," Dick said as he sat down on his bed.

Sensing that the boy wished to be alone, Alfred quietly walked out of the room.

_He does care_, Dick reassured himself mentally before saying aloud, "He just doesn't care about me enough to drop his things when I need him." Yeah, Dick knew he was being a bit selfish, but Bruce was the one who decided he just _had_ to miss his young ward's visit to his parents' graves. And on the fifth anniversary of their deaths too... Richard hadn't minded when he'd missed the third anniversary, much, but this was the _fifth_ anniversary. Half a decade since Dick had seen them fall to their deaths. To top it all off, he wasn't missing the visit for Batman business like last time; he was missing it for _Bruce Wayne_ business. The world wouldn't end if he skipped and yet he was still going.

With a yell of frustration, Dick picked up one of the textbooks he'd left on his bed from when he'd come back from school and threw it at the wall. Hard. He was starting to sympathize with Spee- Red Arrow. Roy had been in Dick's position before, being treated as insufficient when he knew he wasn't. But, Roy left once he realized that he deserved more respect. Dick didn't think he could just up and leave Bruce, Alfred, Barbara…They were his family now. Young Justice was his family too.

_But look how they treat you, _the darker side of Richard pointed out, _they act like they don't think you can handle yourself in combat. You'll always be a child to them no matter how old you get._ Even the lighter part of Dick's conscience agreed to that. He shuddered slightly at the thought of people calling him "Boy Wonder" when he was legally an adult.

Getting up and pacing about his room, Richard Grayson tried to come to a conclusion about his next course of action. The League was never going to view him as an equal; he'd always be the baby in their eyes. And he wasn't about to go pulling a Speedy by barging out and becoming a solo hero in less than a month. Nope, he was too smart for that. Dick disliked how he was being treated, but that didn't mean he was ready to go at it alone yet…But he could always find someone to train him. In fact, young Richard Grayson knew the perfect person for the job, but Bruce would definitely not agree with his choice.

In the end, Dick realized that in order for him to successfully be treated fairly, he'd have to leave. The League and Young Justice were too accustomed to seeing him as their little brother/son/nephew, he'd never get anywhere with opinions like that.

Dick shook his head and plopped back down on the bed. He'd had a tough few weeks, he was being irrational. He wasn't leaving anytime soon. But just in case, the Boy Wonder came up with a plan that'd safely get him as far as Blüdhaven before Bruce even knew he was gone.

_Just pretend nothing's wrong, Grayson, _he told himself, unease wracking through his small frame before he went to bed that night, _you don't want the others catching on to any of this. _

* * *

And nobody did catch on. In fact, one could say things went completely back to normal. Nobody noticed the slight distance Robin was putting between himself and the others. Nobody noticed how he trained extra hard against the others when powers were allowed. Well, nobody but Batman, but he wasn't one to push such issues.

Robin, however, was noticing things he hadn't before. He noticed the way his teammates looked at him before and after a fight, always so full of concern, more concern than what was given to anyone else. He noticed how they'd inch in front of him inconspicuously when things weren't looking good. He noticed how when he did something wrong instead of getting a lecture like everyone else, he just got a slight reprimand and a small look as if he were a child whose hand got caught in the cookie jar. It's not like he was going to break down crying if someone yelled at him! The only person who seemed to treat him fairly was Wally, but that's only because they'd done so much mischief together as kids. Wally would be worthy of the title Kid Idiot if he hadn't yet realized how much one shouldn't underestimate the Boy Wonder after all of the time he'd been framed by the younger boy.

It's not like Robin didn't appreciate their worry or anything it was just that….IT WAS SO ANNOYING! Honestly, Batman had the mother hen category nailed. He didn't need his friends to join that farm. How could he not have noticed all of that before?

Robin managed to put up with all of the babying for a good while, but eventually he had to fly the coop. One could only handle so much disappointment…

* * *

The final strike, strike three, happened shortly after Young Justice's one year anniversary. It was a routine job for the Dynamic Duo; Batman chased after the Joker and Robin took down some badly trained lackeys. In the end, Joker managed to get away by threatening a civilian…Robin didn't really know the full story. Anyway, after days of searching, they found a lead in some guy named Doren Chambers. Chambers was the owner of an arms store, a legal one, where one of the lackeys bought their gun (legally). That's what made the whole thing a lead, nothing involving weapons happens legally in Gotham City.

As it turned out, Chambers was a great lead. The Joker was literally lounging inside the closed shop when the Duo had arrived. Doren, as it turned out, had left to Canada right before the Joker escaped from Arkham (again) to apparently win back his girlfriend who'd moved there.

Basically things went according to plan for the vigilantes, well mostly…

"That reckless Robin, I thought I taught you better than that!" Batman scolded Robin back at the Batcave, Joker safely behind bars until he got bored again.

"It wasn't reckless," Robin argued through a hiss of pain, "I considered every option available and I acted on the one that I thought had the best outcome and it did. The only one injured was me, and the Joker, but none of his hostages!"

Batman glared at his protégé, "You were shot Robin, and that is never a good outcome."

"But it was better than the alternative! I timed it just right so that as I went down the bullet would strike the Kevlar, you would have been hit in the head. You had no protection or time to do anything. I firmly stand behind my decision."

"It's not your job to protect me."

"It's Robin's job to protect Gotham, and Gotham is the safest with Batman."

"Well then, maybe there shouldn't be a Robin if it puts you at such risk," the Dark Knight stated with such finality that Robin's mouth fell open in shock.

"Y-you can't do that!" the boy exclaimed, "I- _we_- both knew going in that it'd be a risk, but it's a risk worth taking! You can't just-"

"Robin!" the shout rang throughout the cave and once the echo died, mentor and protégé, father and son, both stared at the other. "My decision is not open for debate. Go to bed and I'll collect your uniform in the morning."

Robin hopped off of the examination table he'd been on while Batman had been examining his bruised ribs. Before leaving the cave, though, Robin turned back to his mentor, threw off his mask, and glared.

"I don't need your, the League's, or anyone else's protection, _Bruce_. I can take care of myself," and he left. As he walked towards his room, a smirk spread across Dick's face. It wasn't his usual light-hearted one either, for even though he was furious, Dick couldn't help the excitement he felt. Richard, no longer Robin apparently, was about to do something three months in the making. Something that could quite possibly be the grandest trick he'd ever do.

_It's time to make Richard Grayson disappear._

* * *

Roy Harper, also known as Red Arrow, was in shock. There, in his apartment, stood Richard Grayson, sopping wet from the rain. Roy knew what Richard did in his spare time, but what he didn't know was why he was there, in his apartment, sopping wet from the rain. It most certainly was not what he'd expected to find after his evening out doing some hero business.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" the red-head exclaimed, not beating around the bush.

"Nice to see you too, Roy. You don't happen to have a towel or something, do you?" was Dick's response.

With a roll of his eyes, Roy walked over to the hallway door where he kept the towels and tossed one to the wet ex-Boy Wonder. Said kid muttered a quick word of thanks before drying off his hair. "Did you see the news?" he asked casually.

Roy nodded, "They're probably still talking about it."

"Wanna find out?"

Roy shrugged and grabbed the remote. He turned on the TV before flipping to a news station.

"…_and so far no evidence has been found."_

"_Thank you Tracy. Now back to the startling news that has rocked the nation. Robin, the Boy Wonder, was reported to have died while fighting the Joker three days ago. When questioned, the Joker admitted to shooting Robin when he jumped in front of a bullet meant for the Batman himself. Upon further interrogation, Joker could not confirm that he actually killed the Boy Wonder as he was quickly knocked unconscious. No matter the cause of death, the country will forever mourn the loss of its youngest hero and first sidekick. The Justice League has confirmed that they will hold a private funeral for the boy at an undisclosed time and place."_

Roy flipped through a few more channels, all of which seemed to be mourning the "death" of Robin. One station was even showing a collection of every picture, video, and moment ever gathered of Robin. Roy was becoming incredibly concerned as to how the people would react if an actual JLA member died.

"Crazy isn't it?" Dick asked with a dry laugh, "I didn't think he'd actually kill me."

"They're looking for you. You know that right?" Roy asked as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out two water bottles and tossed one to Dick who gratefully took it. Soda was unhealthy and the last thing Roy needed was a fourteen year old high on caffeine.

"Yeah," Dick said between gulps of water, he must've entered the apartment through the window by scaling up four stories if he was that thirsty, "How many are at it?"

"The Junior Justice League was sent to find the missing Richard Grayson, ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne, to help take their minds off of the loss of their precious Robin. So far they've found nothing. Also, every available Leaguer on their lighter work days is searching. If any hero finds you you'll be back with Bruce in a matter of minutes. What else? Oh yeah, the entire superhero community, minus those who know your identity, thinks you're dead."

"Damn," Dick blushed a bit upon realizing he'd cursed, Alfred would've killed him for that.

Roy just chuckled, "No need to be embarrassed. Cussing is what people do, in fact, Jas-" he stopped himself before he said anything else.

"You mean Jason?"

"…No"

"I know you work with him from time to time. I've needed to chat with my big bro for a while now. I've probably been searching for him harder than Batman has, so I know all about your guys' work, but we'll get back to Jason later. We have all night and I'm sure you need to ask me as many questions as I need to ask you," Dick waved off Roy's slip up and plopped down on the faded red couch in front of the TV, which happened to be talking about Robin's death in Spanish. Roy flicked the TV off.

"So, why'd you leave?" Roy asked once the television's screen went black.

Dick shrugged, "They were treating me like a child, and then Batman wanted me to stop being Robin because it was safer…I guess he got what he wanted," he gestured towards the blank television screen, "Robin is dead."

"But you can still be a hero. A solo one too, like me, all you need is a new costume and name."

"Not quite ready for solo work yet. I don't want to stumble upon an assassin organization by mistake."

"I did that on purpose!"

"Sure you did…Why haven't you told them that I'm here yet?"

"The League? Bruce? Wally? Who is this them you speak of?"

"Anyone really. I thought you said every hero was looking for me and, well, you found me…"

"First off, you found me. Second, I'm not a League hero; I'd rather shoot my foot with an arrow than work for them. Finally, I'm not going to argue with you for leaving. I mean, that'd be hypocritical, especially since you have more experience than I did when I left."

"That's true; I have more experience than every hero under the age of twenty one."

"I'm nineteen, that's like, two years away."

"It's still two years too young," Dick said with a smirk.

"Evil kid," Roy muttered as he recycled his empty water bottle, "Why'd you come to my apartment anyway?"

"Told you, I'm looking for Jay, and you've worked with him. Once was happenstance, twice was coincidence, but three times? You definitely know where he is."

"Why do you need him?"

Dick's smirk widened, "I have a business proposition for the Red Hood."

* * *

**A/N: Done with chapter one! Reviews and constructive critisism are always welcome.**


	2. Deals

**A/N: What's this? An update? **

**Anyway, I own nothing :( **

**AH! I can't believe how many people like my story on the first chapter! It was truly remarkable! So thanks you guys! You made my life!**

**I hope all of you can bare with me for the rest of the story. ^^**

**This is my first attempt at writing the Red Hood (in fact, this story is a lot of firsts for me). He's quite a difficult man to write. I hope my explanations make sense, they do in my head. In case it isn't clear, Jason is 19 and Dick is 14. There's a 5 year age difference.**

**I kind of like how both of my chapters have started with the letter "D"... I think I'll work that into the rest of my story.**

**Sorry it's shorter than chapter one...**

**Erm...that's it...I guess...**

* * *

**Ch. 2-Deals**

* * *

_It's best to create the angle of yourself before you try to make a deal.  
―Max Markson_

* * *

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

It was a vicious cycle that Red Hood found himself in. Although never particularly fond of the little bird, he never actually wanted him _dead_. Truthfully, he hadn't even thought about the possibility that the little squirt could die.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

By the Joker too. Same guy who killed him the first time around. If he wasn't in such a shocked stupor, Red Hood would have laughed at the irony of it all. Bruce Wayne, losing both sons to the same man…and all because he was too chicken to kill, honestly, this stuff was just too dramatic to be real.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

But then again, it wouldn't be surprising if Batman killed for his little Robin. The Dark Knight did favor the younger boy after all. He let the kid be his partner while Red Hood had to go out and prove himself before Batman decided training was necessary. Red Hood hadn't been allowed to be publicized, Robin had. The little bird was called the first sidekick, but the secret that only members of the Bat Clan knew was that Red Hood was the first.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

True, Robin did start at a younger age, and Red Hood knew that if the brat had been able to grow up, he probably would have surpassed even the Bat's skills…But Red Hood was in the hero business years before that kid came along. The sometimes vigilante remembered when it all started. He was twelve, living in Crime Alley, and got caught stealing tires. By Batman. Off of the Batmobile…

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

When Red Hood was taken in by Bruce Wayne and discovered Batman's identity, he wanted to be a hero. Bruce said no. Red Hood went out anyway. It was like that for a while until Bruce realized he couldn't stop the kid and chose to train him instead. Not being a circus kid like Grayson, Red Hood avoided the press with ease. He wasn't an attention seeker. The League didn't even know about him, except for maybe Superman. During his stint with the Bat, Red Hood went up against none of the Arkham baddies. He wasn't allowed. Until one day when he was sixteen, when the Red Hood met the Joker.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

Or rather, the Joker met him. While taking down a gang all on his lonesome (he'd been relieving himself of some pent up anger caused by hiding in the shadows of an eleven year old Grayson), Red Hood was knocked out and taken away. Apparently the gang was actually Joker's henchmen. At the time, Red Hood, who was going by a different name, believed Batman would get there and save him. But Batman is only human, and the realization hit Red Hood hard. Like, beaten to a pulp with a crowbar and caught in an explosion hard.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

He died. His civilian identity was said to be traveling the globe on some soul search, like what Bruce had done the seven years before he became Batman. One year later, Red Hood appeared thanks to one Ra's al Ghul. The Dynamic Duo was shocked to say the least. Red Hood still gets jitters up his spine when he remembers the looks (really, only a member of the Bat Clan could have noticed the "looks") he received upon revealing himself to them. Of course, they haven't fought against each other very much since then… It's probably because Red Hood left Gotham City…too much drama.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

Red Hood wasn't quite sure when his animosity toward his "younger brother" began. They got along fine when they were living in the same house. Although that could be because they rarely saw each other, being wrapped up in their own lives and whatnot. Sure, he admits that he may have been a tad jealous of the constant attention shot the kid's way, but he hadn't held it against him. After all, Grayson had grown up with all eyes on him; it'd be too big of a change if he started to get ignored. Anyway, Red Hood had a suspicion that it started when his revived self first saw a newsfeed of Robin. The, by that point, barely twelve year old was all smiles and laughter. He didn't appear at all affected by his own "brother's" death! It'd been a reality check to Red Hood just how little he'd meant to his so called "family." Still, now that the kid was dea- wait a minute…

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

"Son of a bitch," Red Hood breathed out upon closer inspection of the shitty news feed that someone recorded, supposedly of Robin's demise, that he'd been watching for the past three or four hours.

Pause.

"Son of a…why didn't I see that before?" he asked himself in frustration from where he sat on the edge of the couch. Red Hood's apartment was miraculous in comparison to Red Arrow's. It was clean, thanks to the maid, and filled with everything Red Hood needed to feel comfortable, even though the money wasn't necessarily earned fairly. He had DVR, a couple of laptops, and even a kindle or two. It was the bachelor's paradise.

Power.

The plasma screen flicked off.

Red Hood stood up from the couch and picked up his empty beer can. That's when someone started banging on his door.

Only one person had the guts to do that.

"OPEN UP THE DOOR, I'VE GOT A SURPRISE FOR YOU!" the unmistakable voice of Roy Harper shouted.

Red Hood groaned and walked over to the door, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT HARPER?" he shouted back.

"I told you, it's a surprise."

Red Hood glared at the giant piece of mahogany where he assumed the slightly (less than a year) younger man's head was on the other side.

"Come on…" Roy urged.

A silence followed for about three minutes before Red Hood flung open the door, "You better have a real fuckin' good reason for being here Harper, or I swear-" he stopped his rant abruptly when he saw who Roy was with.

"Good to see you too Jason," a smiling and, as just recently noticed, very much alive Richard Grayson greeted.

* * *

Jason Todd, a.k.a. Red Hood, stood in the doorway blinking. First he thought Grayson was dead for days. Then he finds out the bullet actually hit Robin where his Kevlar was located while watching TV, so he was not dead. Now his not so dead replacement was standing outside of his apartment. _Is there a sign that says "let's screw with Jason's sanity" or something?_

"Told you I had a surprise," Harper had the guts to butt in with a smug smile while Jason was momentarily stunned into silence.

Grayson, noticing Red Hood's loss for words, walked passed him into the grand apartment. "You know, you could've at least let us in. Especially since this place is so asterous," the young teen walked over to the fridge and pulled out a piece of frozen pizza Jason had left over from the previous day's dinner.

Empty beer can still in hand, Jason walked over to the kitchen, Harper closing the door and following not far behind. The nineteen year old Jason could feel an inadvertent glare forming as he looked between his two not so welcome guests.

"Yeah," Harper's voice suddenly spoke up, successfully distracting Jason from his hatred fest, "Jay's a rich bastard,"

Grayson swallowed his mouthful of pizza, "Business is good for you then?" the kid's undertones of disapproval were clearly there, but the question did bring back Red Hood's voice. So, knowing that he had regained his ability to speak, there was only one thing he could think of to do.

Jason chucked his beer can and nailed Roy directly on the forehead. Then he did what he was known best for, he lost his cool, "WHAT THE FUCK, HARPER! You can't just come to my home this late at night with my not so dead replacement, barge in, and have the fucking kid EAT MY PIZZA!" In his peripheral, Jason could see that Grayson had the balls to take another, especially large, bite of said pizza wearing a pleased expression. "Give me one good reason not to throw the both of you out," he seethed.

Roy rubbed his head where the can hit, "Jay, he's hungry," the archer explained as he bent down to pick up the projectile that'd hit him, "Besides, I'm sure you're curious about why he's not dead."

"If you think I give a damn about what's going on in Grayson's life, or the reasons behind this mess, you're completely-"

"You watched my death for almost four hours…you care," Grayson interrupted having finished his pizza, he then wandered over to the older boys who'd migrated towards where the television and couch were, "whether it's the good or bad kind of caring, I have yet to figure out," and then as an after thought he added, "And I'm not a replacement. We were active at the same time for a good year or so."

Harper looked confused, "There's a bad kind of caring?" Apparently he'd opted to ignore Grayson's last statement.

"Course there is. The good kind is when I want someone to be all good and healthy; the bad kind is when I wanted to be the one to kill the bastard or I get all happy knowing that someone's kicked the bucket," Jason elaborated casually, an almost complete turn around from his previous hostility.

"Oh," the red-headed archer muttered. And boy did Jason feel all giddy inside upon seeing Harper's expression which clearly read _sorry I asked_.

Grayson, sensing the shifting direction of the conversation, decided to regain control, much to Jason's distaste, "I'm not here to talk about your feelings towards me, anyway," the kid stated looking his supposed brother in the eyes, "This isn't some twisted type of family counseling with Roy being the mediator. Bruce isn't a part of this at all; it's my plan and mine alone."

"You planned your own death?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

Grayson's confidence visibly faltered and an almost appalled look overcame his features, "What? No! I would never kill my Robin persona; you of all people should know how personal that name is to me. My death was all Batman's doing."

Jason smirked; he finally had the upper hand, "I thought you said Bruce had nothing to do with this."

"He doesn't…Well…He does…But not in the way you think," Jason saw Grayson send a pleading look to Harper only to have the older boy hold up his hands and take a step back. Clearly Roy Boy didn't want to get involved. "Well, I mean, it is my plan…But he's part of the reason I'm even going through with it….Not that it's just his fault…" the kid's incessant rambling was starting to irritate the Red Hood, so he decided to move things along a bit, he was a busy man after all.

"Cut to the chase!"

Eyes wide, Grayson instantly stood up straighter and recited, "About three months ago I came up with a fool proof plan to leave because I noticed the babying that everyone was giving me, it was an insult and showed a lack of respect. Since then, I have been gradually preparing myself to put my plan into action, you know, the moment I couldn't take it anymore. That moment was the night Batman and I fought the Joker. I saved his life, and he fires me for being 'reckless'! A little gratitude would've been the proper response, because honestly, my life was never in danger. He knew that was where the Kevlar was too!"

"…You ran away," Jason was dumbstruck. Here was golden boy Grayson, the Boy Wonder, the second half of THE Dynamic Duo, in Red Hood's apartment, (the fallen child, and the villain according to some people's logic) saying that even he hadn't been enough to please the Dark Knight. Truthfully Jason didn't know if he wanted to laugh at the kid or show his understanding towards the unusually high expectations of Batman. Instead he settled for, "So why did you come crying here?"

Jason almost regretted asking when a smile lit up Grayson's face, "As I told Roy, I have a business proposition for you." Now_ that_ got his attention.

"I'm listening."

"Blüdhaven definitely isn't feeling the aster, wouldn't you agree?"

"Don't screw with your words or I'll punch you in the face."

Ignoring the comment, Grayson continued with his confidence somehow renewed, "Personally, I think it sort of resembles Gotham. Although…it lacks a certain cape and cowl..."

"Your point?"

"I want to make Blüdhaven my Gotham."

Jason glared down at Grayson for having such an idea, "You're out of your fucking mind, a hero there wouldn't even last a day! Especially since that's where my business is after Batsy kicked me out!"

"Relax Jay, I know all about your business in Blüdhaven. That's also what makes that city the perfect place. There's so much crime there, I can avoid your guys completely and still make a significant difference. It also allows for easier contact with the Red Hood."

"Why would you need easy contact with me?"

"I'm not ready to go at it alone…yet. I mean, I'm only fourteen. I acknowledge that. The thing that the League failed to notice though, the reason that I left, is that I need new experiences. The JLA has been shielding me. I mean, how will I get better if they'll always view me as the little boy they originally met? I won't be suitable in the field if my knowledge is limited to what they've let me see. So…I figured, the best way to gain new experiences and skills would be if I were trained by my big bro for a while."

Jason gaped, "So let me see if I got this. Dickie Bird here left big bad Brucie, and now he wants me to train him so that he can be all vigilante like in the city where I work taking down other baddies, but nobody involved with me. That right Roy Boy?"

Roy, who'd successfully avoided the conversation up until then, gave an unsure, "Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"That's what I thought," Jason nodded, then he turned his attention back towards Dick, "Now why the hell would I do that!?"

"Because, it'll get rid of your competition in Blüdhaven…I'll also need your help buying my own apartment. I've got the money, just not the age requirement." Grayson answered.

"Get rid of my competition? Not good enough."

"I didn't want to play this card, but you left me no choice," the ex-Boy Wonder gave an absolutely devious smirk, "If he were to ever find out that I left him and came to you, it'd make Bruce positively furious."

Red Hood cursed under his breath. The kid had him there. "Evil Kid," he said loud enough for Roy at least to hear, given that he snorted in an attempt to smother his building laughter. "So what this deal implies is that I get you a place to stay, I train you, and I help you on your way to going solo. In return you go after my competition and when Bruce finds out, because let's face it he will at some point, it's gonna piss him off," Red Hood attempted to clarify again.

"That about sums it all up. So, what do you say Jay, do we have a deal?" Dick Grayson, sometimes known as Robin the dead Boy Wonder, extended his hand.

And Red Hood begrudgingly shook it.

* * *

**A/N:... So...yeah...Review and what not pretty please. I hope you enjoyed it, if not, please PM me to tell me what you didn't approve of (besides the logistics, I already know how out there it all is, that's why it's AU) and I'll try to fix it.**

**Once again, thanks to all of you people who reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this!**


	3. Decisions

**A/N: Sorry it took longer than I thought to update. I was editing and I just couldn't get satisfied with this chapter. I'm still not, actually, but I had to update so I could move on to the chapter I'm super eager to add!**

**There is a backwards time jump in this chapter so that we can see the YJ crew getting their mission, in case anyone gets confused. This'll be the only time I go backwards then forwards again, so...yeah, I openly admit it is not my best/favorite chapter.**

**Another thing, I have no idea how many words this thing cut out. I noticed once I uploaded it that some words had mysteriously disappeared. I think I caught them all, but I'm not positive.**

**Also, I decided it'd be a good idea if I responded to a couple of reviews that people have sent. I'll probably respond to about four reviews at every update from now on, just because. So...**

_**ShadowCatAlex**_**_:_ Thanks for the review! And yeah, early on I decided the YJ!Roy wasn't as fun to associate with Red Hood, so I was drawing more of his characterization from the comics. I might tap into YJ!Roy more later, but I'm not sure. I hope you enjoy the chapter, or the rest of the story!**

**_kuromi123_:**** I'm glad you love it so far! I'm actually considering just making this story about how Nightwing was created and then writing a sequel where the others find out who he is. I haven't decided yet, but if they do find out in this one it'll be way later. So you'll have to just keep reading ^^ See what I did there?**

**_Abbie-As-Sue.29_:**** Thanks for not laughing at my age mash up! I'm glad you like it too, and I hope you continue liking it!**

**_Persistence_:**** Well, if you're eager to see their training, this is the chapter for you! And I wouldn't feel too bad for Bruce... Thanks for reviewing! Oh, thanks for liking my intro to Jason too! **

* * *

**Ch. 3-Decisions**

* * *

"_All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last."__  
__―__Marcel Proust_

* * *

"No jumping! For Christ's sake kid!" Red Hood shouted. He stood atop a building on the outskirts of Blüdhaven, Red Arrow and Robin sparring in front of him.

Robin, as he had yet to pick a new name, was wearing all black with his domino mask so as not to be recognized if someone from the next building over decided to climb to the roof for a quick smoke. It'd been about a week since the deal had been made and Jason had already gotten Dick an apartment. He'd even decided to move in as well, to be closer to work, of course. He was _not_ looking out for his replacement.

"Plant your feet firmer!" Red Hood shouted when Robin slid after a dodge, the spar continuing, "Your agility isn't always going to be there for you to depend upon, sometimes you're gonna have to use less brain and more brawn. What if there were to be a speedster that actually has some brain cells, huh?" Red Hood talked as Red Arrow continued to throw punches at Robin, the Boy Wonder trying hard to dodge without having his feet leave the ground, "Your quick flips are worthless if your opponent is faster than you. If that smart speedster came along, you'd be pinned in no time."

Red Hood continued to observe the spar. Despite having his style be completely redone, Red Hood begrudgingly noted, Robin was doing relatively well. The kid wasn't panting nearly as hard as his opponent, probably due to Batman's insane conditioning drills. Robin's superior stamina was obviously something Red Hood was not going to let go unnoticed, especially if it was at Harper's expense, "What's wrong Arrow?" he asked with an evil smile, "Can't keep up?"

"Why don't you," Red Arrow panted, "try to fight the little twerp?" As he spoke, the red-headed archer barely avoided Robin's punch.

"That's a great idea, what better way to get today's lesson through his thick skull than to show him why it's important?"

Robin and Red Arrow halted their spar, the elder hero backing up to allow the anti-hero into their makeshift fighting ground. "Am I still on restrictions?" Robin asked his brother in a pleading tone. The way Red Hood had been making him fight was more of how Connor fought, less finesse and more power, and he didn't like it. Batman had told him that his acrobatics were his advantage, especially with his small frame. Now Red Hood was telling him that sometimes it wouldn't be enough.

Jason looked at Robin and smiled behind his mask, he knew why the kid wanted to fight in his typical ninja-like way. It worked for him, but what Red Hood wanted the younger boy to realize was that sometimes, when the same style was always used, a hero became predictable. Predictability led to problems in their line of work.

"No restrictions, you can jump to your little heart's content," Red Hood said, getting into a fighting stance, "Ready? Go!"

Robin smiled and rushed forward. Red Hood remained still. He'd seen the little bird do this many times before. Sure enough, at the last moment, Robin attempted to vault over his opponent. Just as predicted.

Red Hood grabbed Robin's foot and flipped him onto his back, he then stepped on the kid, one of his cargo boots on the fallen bird's chest, effectively pinning him to the ground. "Told you, faster opponent equals downed Robin. You're fighting style gets a bit boring after a while too. I'm pretty sure I could beat you with my eyes closed, that's how fucking predictable you are. Spice it up a bit, will ya!?"

Squirming in an attempt to free himself from beneath his brother's foot, Robin gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Rematch!" he exclaimed.

Red Hood pretended to ponder Robin's order, his foot still holding the boy down. "I dunno, whattaya think Harper?"

Roy just shrugged from where he sat at the edge of the roof, casually drinking a water bottle.

"Some help you are... I guess I can give you a rematch squirt," Red Hood finally decided. He picked up his foot, thusly freeing his captive. He watched in amusement as Robin quickly rolled away and jumped back to his feet. "Not like it'll be that long anyway. Go."

Once again, the Boy Wonder charged towards his opponent. That was expected. What wasn't expected though, was when Robin went down instead of up. Using something he learned from the lesson, Robin kept his feet firmly planted and ducked underneath Red Hood's last minute punch. He then tried to swipe the older guy's feet out from under him, but Jason was a seasoned enough fighter to jump. While in the air, Red Hood stared in confusion as Robin rolled under him. The instant he landed, he had to duck to avoid a punch from behind. Turning around, Jason found that the Boy Wonder was no longer there.

The spar continued like that for a few minutes, until Red Hood decided he was ready to turn in for the night. So, he quickly went on the offensive, and when he did that, Robin knew he was in trouble. Growing up in Crime Alley gave Jason an edge when it came to attack. He was fiercer than Robin, because growing up on the streets had taught him that the best defense was a good offense. And he had a real good offense. His offense was once again proven superior when, in no time, Red Hood had the Boy Wonder trapped in a headlock. This of course infuriated the young teenager.

"Round two was better," Red Hood stated as the bird squirmed in his hold. He turned towards Red Arrow, who by now was preparing to fire an arrow to use as a zip line, and shouted "Hey, Speedy, it appears that good ol' Red Hood knows what he's talking about sometimes!"

"Don't call me Speedy. I'm Red Arrow. We've been over this," the annoyed archer growled before taking off. Robin looked at Red Hood in confusion, the latter of whom just waved off the look and roughly shoved the younger boy aside before taking off towards the apartment. Robin just shrugged and followed not far behind. After all, he was getting accustomed to the eccentricity that came with his new living conditions.

* * *

_**Earlier That Week:**_

The Mountain was quiet. Silence had become a reoccurring thing since Robin's death. Of course it wasn't always quiet, but there were fewer pranks, fewer laughs, fewer cries of outrage, and fewer…everything. And it's all because their little brother died.

Currently, Wally and Artemis were watching a movie with Connor and Megan. Zatanna was reading one of her father's magic books nearby; she was becoming a much more powerful magician. Kaldur was in the training room with Raquel; apparently she'd wanted to find out if something involving his water-bearers would work... nobody had really been paying attention when she'd explained.

This of course meant that their calm leader wasn't present when the computer announced the arrival of someone new.

"**Recognized: Batgirl A08**"

Wally turned towards Artemis in confusion, "There's a Batgirl?" he asked.

Artemis shrugged, "Maybe she's new?"

"**Recognized: Batman 02**"

"Is he seriously going to give us a mission?" the archer snapped.

There was silence for a few minutes as the team waited; Batman was going to say it anytime now. "Team," the Dark Knight's voice spoke up over the intercom, "Report for briefing."

"I guess that's a yes," Zatanna sighed as she slammed her book shut.

Slowly, the team, minus Rocket and Aqualad who were most likely finishing up in the training room, made their way to the briefing room.

When they arrived, Batman stood, ever present scowl still on his face, with a young red-headed girl next to him. Most likely, she was the mysterious Batgirl. Honestly, they'd been expecting someone older, not a girl who appeared to be Zatanna's age.

"She isn't here for the reason I think she's here, is she?" Wally asked anger evident.

"Batgirl is here on a trial basis only. She will assist you on this mission and stay depending on her opinions of the team," Batman answered.

"So, what, you decided that Rob was a failure so you got a new protégé before his body even got cold. Is that it? Was he just a soldier in your little crusade?" seethed the red-headed speedster, he'd been devastated by the loss of his best friend, who wouldn't be? And now the man that that best friend had admired had replaced him. To put it simply, it ticked Wally off.

Everyone besides the red-head held their breath, waiting for Batman to explode. Nobody spoke that way to him...Ever…Especially when it came to his deceased protégé.

Unexpectedly, it was Batgirl who exploded, "Don't you dare make accusations before you know all of the facts Kid Ignorant! Robin was more to us than you'll ever know! I don't care if you two were buds; you're not the only one who cares- cared- about him! Now shut up and listen to the mission briefing before I make you! Oh, and by the way, I started training _before_ Robin died."

Gaping like a fish, Kid Flash slowly backed away from the Bat Duo before him. Ticking off a Bat was never a good idea, no matter how much you were hurting. Of course, that's when Aqualad and Rocket entered. Both looked extremely confused when they noticed everyone glaring at Wally.

Choosing to ignore it, Kaldur, like the leader he was, turned to Batman, "What is our mission?" he asked.

"This," a picture of a young boy with raven hair and blue eyes appeared on the screen, a small gasp was heard from the resident speedster, but was ignored, "is Richard John Grayson, ward of the billionaire Bruce Wayne, a large benefactor to the Justice League. Richard is missing and it's your job to find him. He is rumored to be in Blüdhaven and that's where you will begin your search, any questions?"

Everyone looked a bit confused, this mission was completely different from any of their others and there was little to no information. Finally, Artemis asked, "Why not let the police handle it?"

"Mr. Wayne has hired private investigators, but nothing has turned up."

"Why send us?" Rocket asked.

"You guys haven't been active since Robin...you know…so this is an easy case to get your mind off of things," Batgirl answered.

"Are there any other questions?" Batman asked. When nobody spoke up, he nodded and ordered, "Get ready for the mission, you leave in an hour."

The teens all nodded and left to gather what they though they would need during their excursion to Blüdhaven. Soon only Batgirl and Batman remained in the briefing room, Batman typing away on his wrist computer. Yeah, he had one of those too, duh. After a couple of minutes of silence, Batgirl walked over to Batman's side. Said Bat stopped what he was doing and looked at her expectantly.

"Why Blüdhaven?" the first female member of the Batfamily asked.

"That's where Red Hood has been spotted," was the Batman's curt response.

"Well yeah, that's where the majority of his business is run. Of course he'll be spotted there."

"That's what I thought at first too, but within the past week his sightings have doubled."

"So he moved either closer to or directly to Blüdhaven. Great, but you never told me how this criminal helps us find Dick. What does he have to do with anything?"

"In Dick's eyes, Red Hood is still his older brother. Red Hood is one of the first people he'd go to after leaving."

"Dick didn't leave, Bruce," Batgirl spat, using civilian names to spite the seasoned hero, they'd been having this argument since Dick went missing, "He ran away. He ran away because you chased him off. You took away something that was dear to him and you expected him to what? Take it and move on? For the World's Greatest Detective you're pretty dense."

"He's my son," the Batman growled threateningly, "I was doing what's best for him, even if he doesn't realize it."

"And what makes you think you can make decisions for him? What reason do you have?"

"He was shot when I didn't. That's reason enough."

"The thing you seem to be forgetting is that he wasn't hurt! He lived, but you fired him _for saving your life_, so he ran away…and then you killed Robin. You made the entire world believe he was dead, which was just downright low," Batgirl scolded.

"I had to make sure he wouldn't go out on his own and get hurt," the lack of regret in Batman's voice irked Batgirl to no end.

"At what cost Bruce?" she hissed, "The entire young hero population is under extreme scrutiny by the public. People are questioning whether minors should be allowed in the field. And…you ruined all of your chances of having Dick come back. He's not going to return to the man who singlehandedly killed Robin." The irony of that statement wasn't lost on Batgirl. After all, Robin being killed by Batman? Impossible.

The batglare that Batgirl received for her lecture was totally worth it. She sent Batman her own glare right back too, she wasn't going to let him win when he was the one being an idiot.

"Hey, what'd I miss?" Kid Flash questioned, having sped into the room during the stare (glare) down. Both of the bats instantly directed their glares towards the unsuspecting speedster.

"Got it," Wally said, eyes wide at the intensity caused by two batglares, "don't ask." An awkward silence ascended to room, only interrupted once when Kid Flash rhetorically asked why he was early, as he was usually the late one.

Ten minutes of awkward silence later, Kid Flash once again attempted to break the ice, "So…Di- I mean Richard's in one piece right? He wasn't like, taken or anything?"

Batgirl smirked at the boy, "Wally, we know that Dick told you his ID. You can use his nickname around us. And yeah, he should be okay, seeing as he ran away."

"What!?" Wally gaped, Batgirl nodded, Batman seriously contemplated how likely he'd be able to succeed in kicking the high strung Barbara Gordon out of the hero business… he decided he'd be rather unsuccessful.

Batman ignored the two teens as Batgirl filled Kid Flash in on the real story behind Robin's death. By the time the rest of the Team began to trickle in, Batgirl had wisely changed the topic, Batman had mysteriously vanished, and Kid Flash was barely refraining from shooting a beaming smile to the others, his best friend wasn't dead, so of course he was ecstatic. But he couldn't let the others see his relief. After all, Robin was still supposed to be dead to him, literally of course, not figuratively.

"Miss Martian, is the Bioship capable of departing for Blüdhaven immediately?" Aqualad questioned as he entered the room; he was completely punctual, yet somehow still last.

The Martian, who'd been chatting with Superboy, nodded, "She's in the launch bay ready to go."

"Then let us move out."

Wally grimaced, "So we're seriously going to Blüdhaven? That place is worse than Gotham! Er..." he glanced at Batgirl, "No offense."

Batgirl rolled her eyes and walked towards the launch bay, the others following.

As they were boarding the Bioship, Superboy looked over at Kid Flash and noticed something odd. Wally looked…happier. The Boy of Steel just shrugged it off though; he told himself the speedster was just glad to be on a mission so that he wouldn't have to think about Robin. Superboy didn't know that the real reason Wally was happy was because he just found out his best bud was still alive, and that their mission was to retrieve him.

Unfortunately for Kid Flash, his happiness would be very short lived.

* * *

_**Back to the Present:**_

"Shitshitshitshitshit…" Jason muttered as he speed walked back to the apartment. He'd been out and about under his alias, twenty-one year old Devon Honeywell, getting a feel for the city. That's when he noticed a very recognizable red-headed freckle faced speedster wandering around with the rest of the Junior Justice League in their civvies. They, of course, didn't know him, so he wasn't exactly pursued. Unfortunately for Jason, their arrival in Blüdhaven was still problematic to him. He had his business to think about. He also had Dick Grayson living in the apartment with him under the alias of fifteen year old Chester Honeywell.

Why did young Richard matter in the equation? Well, Jason had managed to hear some of the Junior Justice League's discussion before he made his retreat. Apparently, they'd been looking for one Richard John Grayson for a while now. As a mission. From Batman…Very problematic indeed all things considered.

Slamming the door behind him, Jason found Grayson lounging in front of the television, watching what appeared to be some talent competition. "What's up Jay?" the fourteen- year-old asked. Jason had made Dick's alias one year older so that he'd reach eighteen faster. He would have made the kid sixteen, but he was just too young looking.

"What's up? WHAT'S UP!? You're fucking mini Justice League is roaming the city in their civvies looking for the missing Richard Grayson!"

Grayson just shrugged, "They've _been_ looking. Besides, they won't find anything. They're not the best detect-"

"Batgirl's with them."

"…Oh shit."

"My thoughts exactly. I suggest you handle this little dilemma, or else deals off! I will not risk my business because of your daddy-bats issues!"

"I'll…I'll handle it," Dick said, not too confidently.

"Well, handle it quickly. I've got an important meeting in three days and if they mess it up, well…I'm not afraid to shoot." Jason threatened before storming towards his room and slamming the door behind him. Earlier on in their deal, Dick noticed how fond Jay was of slamming doors to get his point across; it got to be rather annoying.

With Jason's departure, Dick was left alone with his thoughts. How does one trick a detective who works alongside the world's greatest detective? With a jolt, which was quickly followed by a sense of dread, an idea hit him. He really didn't want to do it, but it was the best he could think of on such short notice…and it'd work too. Apparently, even after he'd left, Batman was still helping Dick when he needed it, whether the Bat knew it or not. After all, without Batman killing off Robin, he never would have thought of this plan. Even though he really, really didn't want to do it. But, it was necessary...

See, in order for Young Justice to go off of the trail of Dick Grayson without actually finding him, Dick Grayson would have to be dead.

And that's exactly what he was going to be.

* * *

**A/N: Ermm...yeah, it'll get better again. Trust me. I just had to establish this chunk before I could go on. Also, Batgirl, I always thought she was fiery so I rolled with it and made her yell at Batman. I figured that once someone figures out Batman's ID they're a lot less likely to cower away from him...Unless they're a speedster. **

**Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome. I hope you enjoyed the update! See ya sometime next week! Or this week. It depends...**

**Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed, favorited, or followed!**


	4. Deceits

**A/N: Chapter 4 is here! Thanks to all of my beloved readers/reviewers/followers/people who favorited for their support. It makes me want to update faster! This chapter's a big one, it sets the stage for the rest of the story. There's about six chapters left, I'm shooting for 10 in total. **

**I own nothin' :( **

**Review Responses (remember, I only review 4 per chapter and I'm going to try not to respond to the same people each chapter):**

_**YellowTigger: **_**As is custom, thanks for reviewing! You didn't have to wait very long either, I edited much faster (if not sloppier)!**

_**WolfTail Run: **_**Thank you so much for the compliment! Jason is a hard guy to write and I'm glad my efforts are successful with him. Thanks for liking my story and for the review!**

_**Karin Matthews: **_**Was this update quick enough? I thought it was pretty fast. ^^ Thanks for the review.**

_**guest: **_**Thanks for finding my story amazing. It really does make me smile to hear...er...read that. Merci (because thanks is becoming overrated) for reviewing!**

* * *

**Ch. 4-Deceits**

* * *

"_There comes a time when deceit and defiance must be seen for what they are. At that point, a gathering danger must be directly confronted. At that point, we must show that beyond our resolutions is actual resolve__".__  
__―__Dick Cheney_

* * *

Deciding to off one's self isn't an easy choice to make. Especially if said offing is fake. It's even harder if one is trying to fool not only the police, but the Justice League as well. Why is it so hard? Well, the Justice League happens to have a man with the title of World's Greatest Detective with them. It definitely isn't easy to fool that man. And this is the challenge that one Richard John Grayson was currently facing.

If he'd of had it his way, Dick wouldn't even fake his death. He liked being a Grayson. His name was one of the last things he had of his parents. He didn't want to lose it. Unfortunately, time wasn't on his side. The more time he wasted coming up with another plan, the closer he came to being found. Being found was not an option. As it stood, just gathering the supplies he needed for his pseudo death was costly enough time wise.

In fact, just the other day, Dick had to hide behind a dumpster to avoid being seen by Kaldur. He'd only been one block from his apartment too. They were definitely closing in. On top of all that, he had Jason breathing down his neck to hurry up. The older boy's meeting was one day away, meaning that Dick had to fake his death that very night.

Which led to Dick standing on a bridge. Alone. At night. In Blüdhaven. His genius level IQ was definitely showing. Luckily for him, Red Arrow decided just then to join him on the bridge. Things could've gotten bad fast if it'd been a stranger. Strangers at night in Blüdhaven weren't typically very friendly people.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Roy asked, putting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. Jason had eagerly told the archer about Dick's plan earlier that day. The red-head had wasted no time heading over to Blüdhaven himself to assist/comfort the boy he viewed as his younger brother.

"Bruce won't give up looking for me until he's positive that I'm dead," Dick said sadly.

"So you're killing Dick Grayson?"

"Yep. Jay is setting it all up. He volunteered to do it even, just to make sure I didn't screw anything up."

"He's enjoying this way too much."

Dick smirked, "This is his way of messing with Bruce."

"He still has daddy issues after all of these years?" Roy asked playfully.

Alas, just as the archer said that, Red Hood popped out of nowhere, like the Bats usually do. "Watch your mouth Harper!" he snapped, "Or else you won't have one to watch." To prove his point, Jason pulled out a handgun and casually waved it in front of Roy's face. The threat was evident.

Dick scowled at his brother, "Put that away, you know I don't like guns. Especially while I'm in my civvies…Why do you even have that with you?" he asked.

"Never know when you're gonna have to cap someone's ass. We're in Blüdhaven after all," Jason said with an evil grin. He put the gun back into his jacket pocket anyway.

"Did you do it?"

"Place the evidence? Duh, I've always wanted to kill you…Although this isn't how I pictured doing it."

"…You're joking, right?"

"You sure you wanna find out?"

"No…Not really."

"Jay," Roy said as he slapped the back of Jason's head, "Be nice to him. Tomorrow he won't be Dick anymore."

"Something that he should be real thankful for," Jason muttered rubbing the back of his head. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to Roy's friendly head-slap. Nobody had ever done it to him before…Good God, was he fitting in? Was he getting comfortable? That thought put the Red Hood on edge. Last time he got comfortable, he got killed. Jason filed that topic under something to worry about later.

"Like Chester is a much better name? That name is just begging for a disaster." Roy argued.

"I didn't pick it!"

"You didn't stop him from picking it either. Honestly, did you expect _him_ of all people to want a normal name?"

Dick tuned out as the older boys bickered, opting instead to stare at the water. It was official then. Jason had placed their false yet realistic evidence, and tomorrow the whole world will know of his death. The last of the Flying Graysons was no more, in his place stood Chester Honeywell…No. He wouldn't give up his name completely. He refused. His parents gave it to him, after all. The public would know him as Chester, but those close to him now, like Jason and Roy, would know who he really is. They'd refer to him as such in private too; he'd make sure of it. A smile graced Dick's features as he came to that conclusion. Dick Grayson may be dead to the world, but he wasn't dead completely.

Looking up from the murky water, Dick noticed a silhouette standing on top of a nearby building. The figure looked muscular and appeared to be wearing…armor? And was he (Dick was positive it was a guy) staring at the three boys on the bridge?

"…It's not a toy! It's a miniature piece of art!" Roy was shouting when Dick turned his attention back to his two makeshift older brothers.

"Hey, is that guy looking at us?" the fourteen year old butted in as he pointed towards a now bare building's roof.

"What guy?" Roy asked squinting to see if he could find the mysterious man Dick was talking about. Jason appeared to be doing the same thing.

"I swear there was a guy there," Dick said defensively, "He had armor, and muscles, and he was just standing there!"

"…I think it's time you went home; you've had a stressful day."

"But-"

"Don't wanna hear it Grayson," Jason interrupted, "Now, let's listen to Speedy and get going."

"Red Arrow," Roy argued as he and Jason started to leave the bridge, probably to continue their previous argument.

"I swear he was there…" Dick mumbled. He took one last look back at the building he'd seen the man on.

Nobody was there.

With a shrug, Dick followed his "brothers" off of the bridge. Maybe he was just imagining things… Then again, when it comes to mysterious figures, it never really is that simple.

* * *

_Ward of Billionaire Pronounced Dead_

The headline of the paper caught Barbara Gordon's attention. She'd been working with Young Justice for days trying to find Dick. They'd just decided the previous evening to take a day off of searching. What difference would a day make to a boy who'd already been missing for a week?

Seeing the headline, however, Barbara couldn't even begin to hide her apprehension. One day off and now Dick was dead? That wasn't possible. She refused to believe it. Besides, there were plenty of other billionaires with wards. It wasn't necessarily Dick who'd been pronounced dead. Barbara bought the paper anyway.

Sprinting to her house, Barbara slammed the front door behind her and rushed into her room, locking herself in. She didn't want to chance her father seeing her in case it was Dick, which it wasn't. Her father did not need to see her breaking down over her best friend…who wasn't pronounced dead…the lock was just a precautionary measure to quell her bat paranoia. That's all it was, because Dick was not dead. He just couldn't die.

Taking in a shaky breath, Barbara finally looked at the newspaper she bought. The picture under the headline showed a crime scene by a river. There was caution tape weaving through trees and cops balancing on the steep, rocky incline that led to the water. One of the cops in the background appeared to be holding a piece of cloth, while another one was bagging some form of evidence.

When she was done examining the photo, Barbara decided to finally read the article. Or, at least skim it. The pieces of the article she did manage to comprehend felt like bullets being sent to her heart.

"_Late last night, a gruesome scene was discovered on the banks of…"_

"_Blood was found and sent to forensics…"_

"…_scraps of clothing…"_

"…_the Blüdhaven PD are currently unsure if it was murder, suicide, or just a tragic accident…"_

"…_identity was confirmed to be that of the missing Richard Grayson, ward of Gotham's billionaire Bruce Wayne…"_

"…_only fourteen…"_

Barbara continued to skim the article, as if on autopilot. She kept reading until the words started to blur, that's when she finally noticed that she'd been crying. _Oh God, Bruce!_ She thought. If she was taking Dick's death hard, Bruce must be devastated. Dick had been his whole world, and now he'd been taken away. Just like the man's parents had been all those year prior. To make matters worse, the last time the makeshift father and son had spoken, they'd been fighting.

Mustering up all of her energy, which seemed to have depleted dramatically since the discovery of Dick's death, Barbara unlocked her door and headed for Wayne Manor. She needed to grieve with someone who was just as emotionally ripped to shreds as she was over the incident, even if said person had a habit of looking stoic all the time. At least she knew Bruce would be hurting, and Alfred would probably cry with her. That's what she needed right now anyway. Misery does love company after all.

* * *

Wally felt like someone was squeezing his guts as he watched the news. Dick was dead…again. Just when he felt like he'd be able to see his best bud again, alive and well, they find his blood all over the place by a river. It was determined that at some point Dick had been walking on top of the wall that surrounded the edge of the river when he'd either slipped, jumped, or been pushed down the rocky slope that led to the water. The detectives had said the fall hadn't killed him, but it probably knocked him out so that he was unable to swim to safety.

He'd drowned. Alone.

Wally couldn't help but feel like he'd failed his friend somehow. Dick had been acting a bit weird before Robin had died, and Wally, as the awful best friend he was, hadn't done a thing. He sickened himself. Now both Robin and Dick were dead to the world. It didn't matter anymore that his friend hadn't died when originally presumed. Dead was still dead.

And both halves of his friend were dead.

And he hadn't been able to save either half. Some hero he turned out to be. Maybe if he'd paid more attention to the little bird, he'd still be alive. Maybe if he'd just called once. Maybe if he'd found out Robin's death had been faked. Maybe, maybe, maybe… Maybes meant nothing, they didn't change the past. The past didn't really matter now anyway, what mattered was the present. And starting from the present, Wally was going to be a better hero. He made a vow silently to himself saying so. If he'd have been a better hero earlier, he could've saved the boy who'd been destined for greatness.

Briefly, the thought of visiting Bruce Wayne to express his condolences crossed Wally's mind, but he decided against it. The man probably wanted to grieve alone. Or with people he was closer to. Wally just knew that his presence was probably not the presence that Bruce would appreciate at a time like this.

Instead, Wally just sat in front of the television, having his guts squeezed continuously, as the death of Richard John Grayson was brought up again.

"Did you hear that Wayne's kid died?" Artemis heard someone say to their comrade as she walked through the streets of Gotham, heading towards her apartment.

"Yep, it's all over the news," the other person said, "Such a shame really, lost his family then drowned a few years later. Apparently Death don't take it too kindly when someone gets away. And Wayne? He lost his parents too, don't know if he really liked the kid, but he's probably still upset by the whole thing. 'Specially since I heard from someone thievin' nearby that they'd gotten into a fight the night the kid disappeared."

* * *

"Least Wayne tried to find the kid; I heard he bought himself a team of detectives, even a few capes as well."

"With the amount of cash that guy has, he probably bought himself half of the League. Look at all the good that did him though. The boy probably died the night he left."

Artemis frowned, the little freshman was dead? The one the team had failed to find? Well, since he'd kicked the bucket, no wonder they couldn't find him. It was still relatively depressing. The kid had looked like a happy guy, strange, eccentric, a bit wimpy, and geeky as well, but he honestly looked content despite the things he'd gone through. He had a bright future in front of him too, he was a little genius. Now he couldn't do any of the things that he'd been expected to. He couldn't take over Wayne's business, he couldn't win that mathlete competition thing again, heck, he couldn't even go to prom.

His life was just over, done, finished. All because of a stupid fight, if what those two Gothamites had said was true. The kid's death tugged at her heart strings. He was just an innocent civilian. Civilians weren't supposed to die like that! That's why there were heroes. Heroes were the ones who were meant to die in the stead of the civilians, that's why they did what they did. Upon coming to that conclusion, Artemis was suddenly reminded of Robin.

Just like the Wayne kid, Robin was a genius. He'd been expected to take over the team when he was older, maybe one day the League. He was mischievous, calm, and he was always there to remind her that a hero didn't need superpowers to be special. She didn't mourn the Boy Wonder like her teammates had, crying was weak. Except, now that she finally came to terms with all that was really lost with the Boy Wonder, she couldn't help but let a few stray tears fall.

By the time she reached her apartment, Artemis was close to full out bawling. The sight of her mother, hearing her ask if everything was alright, finally pushed the archer over the edge. Over a week after the death of Robin, Artemis finally cried for him. She ran towards her mother and enveloped her in a hug, the woman stroking her hair and saying everything would turn out okay in the end. Moments like these reminded Artemis why she loved her mother so much.

When her tears started to fall less generously, Artemis recomposed herself. She had to be strong after all. Just like Robin had always been, even though he was so young. Then she remembered the freshman again, he was young too. The difference was that he'd still been innocent.

"I guess we won't laugh about it someday…"

* * *

"Hey Jay?" Dick asked the older boy, who was in uniform and preparing to leave. His precious meeting was starting soon and the Red Hood had to attend, like, absolutely had to. The fact that he was still in the apartment was bad, this was one time when he could not be fashionably late…A little late sure, but not fashionably like usual.

"What punk!? Can't you see I've got a schedule to keep?" the impatient anti-hero growled.

"Well, I was just wondering if while you're gone…" the boy trailed off unsure how exactly to word his question without ticking off his brother.

"What do you want to do while I'm gone?" Red Hood pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn't have time for this.

"Can - I-go-to-the-city-while-you're-gone-so-that-when-I'm-ready-to-go-at-it-alone-I'll-know-my-way-around?" Dick rushed out his question in one breath at a rather impressive speed. Luckily he didn't have super speed, so it was still understandable.

And what Jason understood was that Dick was asking if he, a young boy, could go out into a city like Blüdhaven alone. Jason understood where the kid was coming from, but…

"Fuck no!"

"Wha-why not!?"

"I said so." He was _not _saying no because it was dangerous. He was _not _saying no because he wanted to protect his "brother" from the truth of the corrupted city for a bit longer. He was _not _saying no because Dick wasn't ready to really see Blüdhaven just yet. He was most definitely _not _looking out for the little termite rooming with him, that's for sure.

Defiantly crossing his arms, Dick petulantly stated, "Well, you're not the boss of me."

"You're the one who asked permission. And, last time I checked, Devon Honeywell was the legal guardian of Chester Honeywell after rescuing his poor little brother from their abusive parents in a fierce custody battle which resulted in the arresting of their father," Red Hood pointed out, reciting their IDs' made up back-story.

"Ugh, you're just like everyone else!" the moody fourteen year old shouted before running off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Jason stood in the kitchen, where the argument had taken place, for a few moments in confusion. What crawled up Dick's ass? All he did was say no to the kid. Obviously someone had been spoiled under the care of Brucie. Dick's ire was obviously not even remotely caused by the involvement of Red Hood. At least, that's what Jason told himself as he walked towards the window and opened it. As he grappled away, Jason was completely unaware of Dick's scheming.

See, if Dick couldn't get permission to leave, or a valid reason to stay, he was going to follow his gut and check out Blüdhaven.

No matter what his brother said.

* * *

A twelve year old boy looked out his window at his neighbor's much larger mansion. Or what he could see of it through the trees. Robin was dead, his civilian ID was dead, and now there would be no more Dynamic Duo. Gotham needed its two heroes, two being the keyword. The Solitary Single had a habit of being much darker. Gotham didn't need its savior to go back to the dark place he'd been in before, and Gotham _definitely_ didn't need or want Batman to go back to that super dark place that he'd been in for a short span of time when Robin would've been eleven. The boy knew, unlike most of Gotham, why exactly that particular dark turn happened, and he didn't want to think about it.

The twelve year old boy knew things. He had way too much free time, so spying on his ex-acrobat neighbor was his source of entertainment. The boy admired the Flying Graysons more than most people, which was saying a lot when it came to that mind-blowing act. He especially idolized the youngest one, who by chance, came to be his next door neighbor. When that day came, the boy had been thrilled. He had so many questions to ask! Unfortunately for Dick, he'd asked every single one at the first charity ball they'd both been at.

Then Robin had appeared. The boy admired the sidekick almost as much as he marveled the last Flying Grayson. The more time that passed, however, the more alarms went off in the boy's head. He kept noticing things; he didn't have much else to do after all. One thing he constantly noticed was that his two heroes were very similar. The pieces finally all fit together when the boy was eleven. That's when he officially realized that Dick was Robin and Bruce was Batman. He was living next door to the Dynamic Duo! To say he was excited would be an understatement.

The discovery did leave him with a slight problem though. How does one tell the Batman that they know who he is? You know, without getting maimed…

So, the boy never told his neighbors he knew their secret. He wasn't scared per say, just incapable of finding out the proper way of revealing his knowledge. Now that there wasn't a Robin anymore, now that his idol was dead, the boy was faced with a moral dilemma. Should he ignore it and hope Batman doesn't take a downwards spiral, or should he reveal what he knows in the hopes of preventing a disaster?

He knew the answer before he even asked it.

* * *

**A/N: Whoever could that twelve year old be? Go ahead, guess. I made it rather obvious...Of course, it's not really supposed to be a mystery.**

**As I mentioned, this story has a lot of firsts for me. For example, the boy. I've never typed him before, nor have I ever considered doing so until this idea popped into my head. So, if I'm doing him completely off (honestly, you should all know who the boy is) please feel free to tell me how to improve. **

**Yeah, no reaction from Bruce on Dick's death... Next chapter will have him though! **

**That sums it up. Reviews are highly encouraged, but not required. Till next time!**


	5. Discussions

**A/N: Update time! Woot! **

**Anyways, I don't really have much to say about this chapter...It's lots of dialogue, poorish grammar at points, maybe some OOCness for a few of the tougher characters to write, language...Not much happening, but it had to be done. **

**Next chapter is the one I've been super eager for! So, be prepared!**

**I own absolutely nothing.**

**Review Responses:**

_**ShadowCatAlex: **_**I'm glad you're warming up to the insane AU I'm creating because I'm pretty sure it's only going to get more AU as the story progresses. I'm also pleased that you like Jason being all brotherly, personally when I read things when that happens I can't help but smile. Your note/opinion was highly helpful too. It didn't occur to me how depressed Tim would be if his hero died! Big ,big oops on my part. You're super long review was awesome by the way. **

_**purpleykt: **_**Thank you for the wondrous review! I put some thought into whether or not Damien should be added, but I chose not to. It's not that I don't like the kid, but I don't think he'd fit in. Maybe some point in the (distant) future he'll pop up, but as of now I don't intend on adding him.**

_**kuromi123: **_**It most definately is Tim! How could I possibly type a story involving DC heroes without adding the character who got me interested with them in the first place? Thanks for being in love with the story! Also, it's a bit of a spoiler, but Nightwing won't make an appearance until the last chapter. Why? I decided to do a sequel ^^**

**_ashkim: _You had about a week to wait patiently, and I shall reward your patience with this chapter (although the next one is going to be significantly better) and a smiley... :D Anyway, I have no idea what that was about, but thank you for reviewing! And you guessed correctly, it's going to be quite some time before Dick is found out.**

* * *

**Ch. 5- Discussions**

* * *

"_Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance."  
― Robert Quillen_

* * *

Alfred Pennyworth had been working with the Waynes for generations. He'd seen them grow up, he'd seen them die. Bruce Wayne, the only Wayne he'd basically raised, was similar to the previous Waynes in many ways. He was charming, he was slick, and he was smart. He also took the Wayne determination to a new extreme. Which was why the good butler was entirely unsurprised when he found Bruce sitting behind the Batcomputer…again. He appeared to be reevaluating the evidence found at Dick's crime scene...again.

Don't get him wrong, when he'd heard of the Young Master's death via an apologetic phone call three days prior, Alfred had been heartbroken. Richard had been the light that the dreary mansion had so desperately required. The news of his demise left the poor Bat Butler with a gaping hole in his heart, a hole that nothing could fill. Not even Bruce.

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. The man who'd lost his parents. The man who'd lost his eldest son…twice depending on one's perspective. The man who'd now just lost his only remaining son. The man who now was going to be doted upon endlessly by a grief stricken butler because _―_by God_― _he refused to let the Wayne heir work himself to death.

"Master Bruce," Alfred said after a few minutes, "I must insist you stop this and attend to Bruce Wayne business. The press is expecting a date for the young Master's funeral, you have missed four business calls, and the meal I graciously made for your supper is getting cold."

Bruce rubbed his blood shot eyes. His cowl was down revealing to the butler just how worn out the other man was. "There's something I'm missing Alfred. I know it. He can't just be gone without there being a body," Bruce said.

"You know as well as I that the river is said to have washed it away."

"It just makes no sense. Dick wouldn't fall like that, and despite his anger, I know he wouldn't jump."

"Are you suspecting he was pushed off of the wall?"

"No. Dick wouldn't have let that happen. Nothing seems to be fitting together."

"Perhaps nothing makes sense because there is nothing to make sense of."

"He's not gone Alfred. There has to be something I'm missing…"

Alfred sighed, "Master Bruce, you and I both saw the evidence. You even went to the scene and found nothing to contradict the findings. There is no fault on this case. You are not missing anything."

"That's just it, the evidence is too air tight." Bruce was grasping at straws, Alfred could tell.

"Maybe the reason it is too air tight is because it's what actually happened. There is nothing to find out. All of this searching is going to turn up cold Master Bruce. You must understand that."

"You think I haven't thought of that!?" Bruce shouted, abruptly standing up and spinning to face the elderly butler, "You think I haven't considered that I may have lost another son!?"

"Do not raise your voice with me Master Bruce," Alfred said evenly, "You are not the only one in this room who has lost someone very dear to them."

Silence ascended over the Cave, the two men staring the other down. Finally, it was Bruce who looked away. Nobody can match Alfred's glare, not even Batman. Where do you think the Dark Knight learned it? Not from Ra's al Ghul that's for sure.

"Come along Master Bruce," Alfred spoke up, "You are in need of a break."

This time, Bruce obeyed without a complaint. Alfred may not be showing his grief, but that didn't mean the elderly man didn't have any, and if his way of coping was coddling Bruce, then so be it. Bruce wasn't going to be as selfish as he'd been the last time. He'd just return to the Cave after eating because no matter how much the evidence pointed otherwise, Bruce's gut said something fishy was up.

And typically his gut was right.

* * *

"Tim, I'm going out of town. The maids will be here if you need anything," Jack Drake called somberly from somewhere downstairs. He hated having to leave so soon after his son's idol passed on.

From his room where he'd been playing Tetris on his computer Tim shouted back, "How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"One week. I'll be back late next Friday; don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

"Because I normally do?" Tim questioned with a hint of sarcasm, he frowned when his Tetris piece didn't fit anywhere.

"Call me if Bruce releases the date of..." Jack trailed off, unable to finish.

Tim sighed, pushing back the wrenching that the thought of Dick's funeral gave his emotions. "I will dad…" the boy responded. His voice may or may not have shaken a bit.

"Bye Tim, I love you."

"Love you too!"

When sound of a door closing reached his ears, Tim shut down his game. He knew his dad would be going away soon. The man typically went away at least once every month, if not more. The Drakes were in the same social circle as Bruce Wayne, hence their mansion. Unfortunately, maintaining their level of wealth required Jack to travel constantly. Tim was used to it by now; he had twelve years of practice behind him after all.

Normally, when his father left Tim would feel some type of sadness or anger, but not this time. This time, Tim was eagerly awaiting his father's departure. Why the change of attitude? Tim was going to confront the Batman, and he didn't know how long it'd take…or if he'd get maimed.

Tim wasn't afraid of the Batman, it's not like he'd done anything wrong. It's just that he was BATMAN! Nobody could predict him, minus the whole no killing thing, and that's what made him such a good hero. That and his detective skills. His amazing tech helped too. And Tim bet that the mad fighting skills were useful to have… He was stalling.

He wondered if Dick would've done the same thing…

Before he started procrastinating anymore, the twelve year old walked over to his closet and tied on a pair of sneakers. After sticking his cell phone into his jeans pocket, Tim ran down the stairs yelling out a quick, "I'm going out for a few hours!" to the maids before rushing out the front door before anyone could ask him any questions.

Arriving at his neighbor's front gate, Tim couldn't help but wonder how he'd get to the front door. Bruce probably had loads of security and it's not like Tim could just ask them nicely over the intercom near the gate to let him in…Well, he could try…

Walking over to the button, the boy mustered all of the courage he had and pushed it. A small buzz sounded from the speaker, but nothing else happened. _Well that was a bust_, he thought. Just to be thorough, Tim proceeded to push the button in rapid succession about thirty more times before giving up. _They must be in the Batcave._ For some reason that thought excited Tim. Then again, anyone would be excited if they knew how close they were to the epicenter of all that is computer tech. Or, at least, anyone who was interested in that sort of thing would be excited.

He wondered what Dick would do…

With a sigh, Tim pulled out his cell phone and yanked the front of the intercom box out so that the cords were showing. Hooking his cell phone up to the gate was a relatively simple task to accomplish; cracking the access codes to open the gate was a whole other matter. Normally Tim's program designed for this sort of thing would've worked, but it seemed that Mr. Wayne had planned ahead and set up a trick code. A trick code that Tim's program fell for. The poor boy could only stare in horror as his beloved cell started to smoke and the screen turned black.

By the time he got his phone disconnected, it was dead. That particular hack was definitely the work of Dick. Tim would bet a thousand dollars that Grayson had designed at least half of the security surrounding the mansion.

"That happened to me too the first time I tried," a female voice suddenly spoke up. Turning towards the speaker, Tim saw a young, familiar, red-headed girl.

"Barbara?" Tim choked out in surprise.

"Yeah, and you're Tim," the girl stated, normally a smile would've made its way to her face by now, but considering that Dick had only been dead for a few days her darker attitude was understandable. "I found that it usually helps to call ahead," she waved her phone in the younger boy's face.

"I probably should've thought of that one."

"So what are you doing here?" As Barbara voiced her question, the giant gate opened up letting the two kids in…most likely due to the fact that it was time for the girl's prescheduled visit.

"Well," Tim started as they began their walk down the long driveway, "Would you believe me if I said I came to have a nice neighborly chat with Mr. Wayne?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Drat. Fine, I'm here to…discuss certain…er…issues and worries I have involving what happened to Dick."

Barbara winced at the mention of her deceased friend, "What about Dick?" she asked.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Tim decided that he should let Barbara in on his little secret. She deserved to know, with how close she was to Dick and all. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you is secret, understand? You can't even tell your dad," Tim said seriously.

He wondered if Dick would've told…

Looking concerned, the red-head nodded, "Sure, I won't say a word to anyone."

"Alright. So, awhile back I discovered something about Mr. Wayne…something nobody would expect. I discovered that Bruce Wayne is Batman."

Tim waited with bated breath for the girl next to him to react. When nothing happened, the twelve year old turned towards the older girl to see her wearing a small smirk, her eyes shining with a mixture of shock and amusement.

"You don't say?" she questioned.

"I do say. And Dick was Robin too!" Tim defended; the girl was clearly humoring him.

The mention of Dick once again sobered Barbara's mood. Tim knew that on the day Dick's death was announced, Barbara had visited Wayne Manor in tears. He didn't know much about what happened after that, but he knew that she most definitely hadn't left through the front gate, unless…

Tim looked at Barbara and gasped. She fit the description perfectly! How could he have not seen it before!?

He wondered if Dick would've figured it out sooner…

"You're Batgirl!"

* * *

"You know kid, most people would find you taking out your anger on that dough a bit unhealthy," Jason said casually as he strolled into the kitchen of the apartment.

The kid in question just grunted in reply as he once again punched the unfortunate blob of dough that at some point should resemble a pizza crust.

The older boy looked at the recipe the younger one was supposed to be following for their homemade dinner, "You do realize that this says roll the dough, not pound it."

Through gritted teeth, Dick stated, "No rolling pin."

"And mutilating it is the next best thing?"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Jason simply nodded his head and watched his "brother" beat the dough senseless. The two ex-Wayne wards had opted for an early dinner so that the Red Hood could attend some function or another. So far in their time together, meals consisted of TV dinners and take-out. Unfortunately, they'd run out of their supply of make-shift meals, and they hadn't yet found a new place for take-out (Jason had managed to get them banned from their usual place by cussing out their delivery boy for not giving him his change the previous evening…the change was only a penny). With all of these factors, Dick was the poor soul who ended up getting roped into cooking. He'd made the mistake of mentioning that Alfred had been teaching him some tricks when it came to food preparation. One such trick involved not blowing up the kitchen, something Jason hadn't yet learned.

As he watched Dick smother sauce on the pizza (which looked like an explosion as opposed to the normal circle) Jason couldn't help but notice the boy's frustration. Something had ticked off the bird, and now that he really thought about it, Jason noted that the kid had even woken up in a sour mood. Being the man he was, Jason had no idea how to comfort a young teenage boy. So he opted to continue watching as the pizza was shoved brutally into the oven.

Dick let out an angry sigh, "Quit staring!" he snapped, sending the older boy a glare.

Gaping, Jason's almost concern turned to an anger that matched Dick's. No way in hell was he going to let his upstart punk ass younger brother(ish) figure talk to him like that! He was the goddamn Red Hood!

"Well, _excuse_ me for caring!" Jason yelled.

"I don't need your care!"

"I was talking about the pizza; I gotta eat it you know!"

"It's edible so you don't need to worry!"

"It looks like shit!"

"Then make your own next time!"

"What the hell is your problem today!? Break your favorite stuffed animal!? Suck it up and stop acting like a fucking child!"

"I'm not the only one acting like a child!"

"What's that supposed mean!?"

"You're still ticked at Bruce for not doing what _you_ wanted and killing the Joker! Get over it! And look around! Guess what? You're not dead anymore! Move on with your life for the love of God! You're whole business exists because you're too immature to find something better to do!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DIE! You don't know how it feels to be replaced! You know why? You're the fucking replacement! You've never been yanked from the afterlife and slammed back onto this shithole of a planet! You know NOTHING!"

Seething with rage, Jason stared down Dick. The younger boy met his gaze for five seconds before looking towards the ground in defeat.

"I know," the shame in Dick's voice was evident.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up a minute…What?" Jason asked, shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"I-I don't know anything. When I left, I felt so sure of myself. I felt as though I wasn't getting the respect I deserved, and leaving was for the best. I never expected things to go so far…I never would have guessed that Dick Grayson would have to die so I could get my freedom."

"Then why did you kill yourself, figuratively of course, instead of running back to Daddy Bats?"

"I thought I could handle everything myself. I figured, what's Blüdhaven compared to Gotham? Blüdhaven doesn't have any insane villains… Then I went out last night while you were gone."

"…Shit," Jason whispered the word so that Dick wouldn't hear. The older boy knew a lot about Blüdhaven and he'd wanted to ease Dick into the ways of the city. That's mainly why he hadn't let him go when he'd asked earlier (not that he cared for the little twerp). Apparently the kid hadn't been patient enough. Dumbass.

"I thought I planned everything out perfectly. I never expected the bad guys of this city to be the people themselves. I never expected them to be that horrible either. Gotham is child's play compared to this place. I'm in way over my head here. I'm sorry that I took it out on you Jay. It's just…I was so frustrated. How can I protect a city from itself?"

"Your problem is that you're a straight up hero."

Now it was Dick's turn to be shocked, "What?"

"Before Batsy came along, Gotham was all doom and gloom. It needed a goody goody cape and cowl to save it from its baddies, to be its hope. Blüdhaven's a different story. The people here do what's necessary to survive, even if it means crossing some legal lines. Not all of the crime here is because of psychos and self-absorbed bastards, some crimes are done by good people in bad situations. A full out cape and cowl, like what you've been trained to be, would cause more harm than good, especially with the corrupted cops all over the place. Blüdhaven needs a hero that understands what they're going through, who can see the grey area. You've been sheltered Dickie, and in this place…that's the last thing the people need their hero to be."

"Then…What should I do? I mean, something is telling me that I have to save Blüdhaven. I can't just…leave… "

"You still wanna protect this hellhole? After I just told you you're not the right hero?"

"Yeah, I do. I kind of think that I want to protect Blüdhaven more so now than ever! Jay, there are good people here, and if what you say is true, they need hope. If the sense of justice Batman has taught me won't work here, I need to learn what will. What do you think I'll need so that I can be the hero this place needs?"

"Experience."

Dick opened his mouth to object, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that experience was the only thing that _would_ help him. This was about his mentality now; no amount of training could make him truly understand Blüdhaven. He'd have to learn as he went along. So, instead of complaining about the vague answer, Dick ran into his brother and hugged him.

"Thanks Jay."

Jason was stunned for a moment. For ages he lived without caring for others, and here he was, suddenly feeling all giddy inside that he'd helped his parasitic little brother. This was disastrous for his anti-hero rep! Even worse, he didn't seem to care! It felt surprisingly good for the nineteen year old to finally have someone hug him. Shit! Jason was silently thankful (like, immensely thankful) that there weren't any telepaths around to hear his corny thoughts, or he'd probably die. With a smile, Jason hugged Dick back.

"No prob punk," Jason said, then after regaining his senses, he pushed the kid away, and pulled out his gun in a threatening gesture, "If you want to keep breathing, never, ever, mention this incident to anyone. _Ever_. Got it?"

Dick smiled, "Got it."

"Good. Now, about you're funeral. I'm thinking about crashing it. After all, what kind of estranged brother would I be if I didn't make an appearance," Jason put his gun away as he changed the topic.

"Not a very good one. I bet Bruce will get a kick out of seeing you."

"And Clark."

"And Barry."

"Barry's a Flash, he won't notice anything."

"Well, how about Ollie and Dinah."

"Oh God, I hope Dinah doesn't see me."

Both boys laughed as a casual feeling fell over the apartment for the first time since they moved into it. Both of them were finally at ease with each other. They were, after all, brothers by all but blood. Not that they were ready to admit it.

* * *

"No."

"Why not?"

"I said so."

"Pleeeeeeeeeease?"

"No."

"I won't break anything!"

"Doesn't matter."

Alfred and Barbara watched as Tim and Bruce continued their bickering. After Tim had figured out who Barbara was, the girl had literally dragged the kid into the mansion and threw him onto a chair in the study before gathering up the two residents of said mansion. The girl quickly explained that Tim knew everything and handed the boy's fate over to Bruce. Of course, this led to a long lecture about secret keeping, why Batman existed, the creation of Robin, and other fun tales that Tim eagerly listened to, while Barbara tried not to fall asleep. When Bruce was finished and asked Tim if he understood everything, the kid had nodded and then asked the question behind the bickering. He'd asked if he could see the infamous Batcave.

"I'll do anything!"

"I'm not changing my mind."

"It's not like anything bad will happen if I go!"

Barbara looked over at Alfred when she heard a quiet chuckling. Catching the look, the elderly butler just smiled sadly and said, "Their arguing reminds me of many of Master Bruce and Master Dick's spats. The young Master would always win in the end."

"His puppy dog eyes and crocodile tears," Barbara reminisced with a smirk, "He told me that he managed to get something he wanted from everyone in the League at least once. He even got some Oreos from J'onn one time. He was so proud of himself when he told me that story."

"I'll pay you!" Tim was offering when the two onlookers ended their conversation.

In response to the bribe, Bruce just stared at the kid with a raised eyebrow. Did he, Bruce Wayne, Gotham's richest resident, look like he needed to get paid?

"Master Bruce," Alfred stepped in, "Seeing as the child has already figured us out, I see no harm in letting him view the Cave. Miss Gordon and I will gladly give him a condensed tour."

Bruce sighed, he wasn't about to argue with Alfred, "Don't touch anything," was all he said before walking off. Probably to eat the now cold meal Alfred had told him about earlier.

Tim smiled as he excitedly followed Alfred and Barbara towards the grandfather clock.

He, Timothy Drake, was going to be the first person not involved with the hero world allowed into the Batcave.

He wondered if Dick would be proud…

* * *

**A/N: As I said, nothing much happens in this chapter. NEXT CHAPTER THINGS ACTUALLY DO HAPPEN! **

**Examples: Intro of new Robin, Deathstroke is back, more Roy.**

**Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism, so yeah...**

**Thanks for reading! **


	6. Developments

**A/N: Bam! Chapter six! My lucky number! The longest chapter yet!**

**Okay, admission time, I was a tiny bit lazy and skipped the funeral. Don't hate me! It is mentioned though! However, if you would like me to type a quick one-shot about it or something...I guess I could try...But the reason I didn't include it is partially because I don't think I could accurately portray how it would go.**

**I own nothing. **

**Warnings: Language, potential OOCness (although I try not to), and that's all I can think of...**

**Review Responses:**

_**angel grayson**_**: Thanks for the long, energetic, random, and hyper review! Sorry about not describing Jason's gate crashing...I was typing and got carried away...Basically I completely forgot about it in the end... Heh. ^^ I did update quickly, so the wrath of the Bat-fam and Gotham villains is unecessary...Thank God! Also, I'm positive that Alfred is included (despite his awesomeness). He's basically the grandfather of the Batkids. Thanks again for reviewing and enjoying my story! **

_**roy23**_**: Sorry, no real insight on the funeral except for Tim's...A lot of your questions were actually answered in chapter two of the story, but yeah, Jason has mostly the same story. Except Dick was around before he died and Bruce didn't want to risk people making connections so he said Jason was off on a soul search, and not dead. So to the general public, Jason Todd is still alive, just never around. Hope that sort of helped. If you have any questions still, look back to chapter two. If you still have questions, feel free to ask. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you're liking the story! :D**

_**Guest that reads**_**: Thanks for saying my story is awesome!...Thanks is becoming a bit of a broken record so...Gracias (I didn't take Spanish so I hope that's right) for finding my Jason and Richard moments lovely! Hope you continue reading, reviewing, and finding enjoyment in my story!**

_**mixxi:**_**This chapter marks the official entrance of Deathstroke! Hope you like how I write him (although he's technically not doing much). **

**Oh yeah, notice how mobody's name was underlined? They wouldn't show up -_-**

* * *

**Ch. 6- Developments **

* * *

"_The only thing we know for sure about future developments is that they will develop."_

* * *

"This is bad. This is very very bad," Tim muttered under his breath as he watched the news. It had been a week since he was shown the Batcave, even longer since Dick Grayson was proclaimed dead, and only four days since the funeral. Tim, of course, had been invited to the burial of his idol, although there wasn't a body to bury. He may have shed a tear or two during Barbara's heartrending speech. The boy didn't even want to remember Bruce's remembrance of his ward, that one had sent even some of the press over the edge. And he'd swear up and down that he even saw Bruce's estranged son, Jason Todd, there. He seemed to be the only one (outside of one press photographer who managed to get a lucky shot…maybe it'd be published in next week's paper) to have noticed. All in all, the funeral was the most emotional thing Tim had ever witnessed in his twelve years.

Unfortunately, Batman, unlike Bruce Wayne, doesn't get sad. He gets mad. He gets violent. The night of the funeral, once all of the mourners were gone, Bruce had suited up and gone on patrol. Nothing unusual there. What _was_ unusual was Batman's enhanced ruthlessness with the criminals. The vigilante had stopped a total of sixteen crimes that night. Seventy two criminals in all were apprehended…Sixty five of them were sent to the hospital after the Bat was done with them. The last time something like that had happened was when Jason Todd went soul searching and decided not to return. Although, Tim was beginning to realize that there was probably a lot to that story that he was missing.

The problem that was currently plaguing young Timothy's mind, shortly after Batman's return to extreme violence, was the man known as Two-Face. Apparently Mr. Dent recognized Batman's ire, and used it against him…by streaming Robin getting shot by the Joker on a continuous loop to every television in Gotham. If that wasn't a call to war, Tim didn't know what was.

Looking at the clock on his new phone (his dad had handled the frying of his old one relatively well) Tim sighed in frustration. It was almost 9:00 at night. The maids would never let him out of the house, but he had to do something. Tim felt that it was his duty as one of the few people who knew Batman's ID to prevent him from doing something stupid while he was so obviously emotionally compromised.

Taking his new responsibility to heart, Tim looked out of his second story window for an easy way down. There wasn't one, but that did little to deter the boy. He was prepared for anything, including a quick escapade from his house. Although he'd never snuck out before, Tim had a rope stashed away under his bed and a highly convenient hook nailed to the wall next to his window. One never knew if they'd need to climb out their window.

After he'd successfully set up the rope, Tim threw on a jacket, his sneakers, and a pair of gloves to prevent rope burn. He also packed a bag of random items he thought might come in handy, like a flashlight. Once satisfied with his preparations, Tim climbed out of his window and slid towards the ground via the rope. As quietly as possible, he then made his way down the driveway, out the gate, and safely behind some bushes near Wayne Manor. He then took out his phone and called Alfred. He was not going to try bypassing the virus Dick had created again.

After two rings, the kind butler picked up the phone with his textbook, "Wayne residence, Alfred Pennyworth speaking."

"Hey Alfred, it's Tim," the boy said quietly, still hiding behind the bushes, "Can you open the gate? I'm right outside."

"Master Bruce is quite busy right now Mr. Drake and-"

"I know about the video Alfred!" Tim interrupted, "Now let me in. I have to stop Bruce from doing something stupid."

"I am sorry sir, but Master Bruce has given direct orders to not even allow Miss Gordon trough these gates. He simply cannot be dissuaded from whatever course of action he has planned, not even I can talk sense into him. Now, I must go prepare the medical supplies, something tells me that if Master Bruce stays on this road, he is going need them. Good day, Mr. Drake."

Tim stared at his phone. Alfred had hung up on him! If that's the way it was going to be, then so be it. Nothing was going to stop him from helping, not even direct orders from the Bat himself! If he can't get in through the front door, maybe he can get in by other means. The Batcave had to have a back entrance, and Timothy Drake was going to find it.

* * *

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

Jason Todd couldn't believe his eyes. The Blüdhaven news was having a field day over this story from Gotham, their sister city about half an hour away. Apparently Harvey Dent, being the douche he was, decided it would be smart to play Robin's death over and over again on every TV in the city. It was obviously a trap for Batman. Jason knew it, Grayson (who sat next to him on the couch) knew it, and even Harper (who was visiting) knew it. All three of them also knew that Batman knew it too, and that the man would still hunt the villain down.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

The three boys kept replaying the same news feed over and over again. Did Two-Face have a death wish? Everyone knew that when Batman was angry, bad guys were in deep shit. That's why he'd had Robin to back him up. It was Robin's job to watch Batman's back and prevent him from going overboard.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

But, now there wasn't a Robin. Without Robin, there was nobody there who was capable of preventing Batman from doing something incredibly stupid. Sure, Batgirl was a capable hero…she just had no influence over the Batman. Honestly, the boys whose eyes were glued to the television screen, as well as millions of other people, were curious as to how this would all play out.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

"I'm going to make some popcorn," Harper said standing up, "Something tells me we're going to be in for a show."

"Extra butter please," Grayson mumbled, staring intently at the screen. It was technically his death after all. Well, one of them.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

To be truthful, although he had actually died and not faked anything, Jason was quite thankful that he'd only had to die once. He was also quite pleased that his civilian ID was still usable, alive, and not a wanted felon. He'd visited Gotham a few times since his whole "I'm back from the grave" episode as Jason Todd just to tick Bruce off. After all, what kind of wayward son would he be if he didn't visit his "father" every now and again?

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

"Yo, Todd, do you want anything?" Harper called from the kitchen.

"Beer!" Jason shouted back.

Jason heard the fridge open (loudly) and close (louder) signifying the other man grabbing the alcohol. "Dick, you want anything to drink?" the archer called, as if it were a second thought.

"Water is fine Roy," the acrobat answered.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

About five minutes later, Roy reentered the television area.

Somehow he'd managed to gather two bowels of popcorn, two beers, a water bottle, a bag of potato chips, a bag of pretzels, a half eaten tub of vanilla ice cream, and three spoons into his arms. An even more impressive feat on the archer's behalf was when he laid them on the coffee table without dropping anything. Obviously he'd learned a thing or two from Wally, the self-proclaimed master at holding insane amounts of food in his arms at one time.

"What'd I miss?" the bringer of snacks asked once he was settled back into the couch.

"Nothing, Grayson keeps replaying the same thing over and over again, it's driving me mad!" Jason exclaimed whilst sending a glare towards the young teen who'd somehow gained the remote.

Pause.

Rewind.

Play.

"You do realize that if we keep seeing the same thing, when something new happens we'll miss it," Harper mused.

Apparently that was exactly what Dick needed to hear though because right after it was said the kid instantly pushed the "live TV" button on the remote. Right in time too, as it seemed the station just received new Intel regarding the situation in Gotham.

Jason gave a sigh of relief when the news anchor mentioned Gotham. He really hadn't wanted to return to the live news if all they were discussing was politics. He hated politics.

The sigh of relief soon turned to one of surprise when the update was finally given. Turning his head, Jason found Grayson and Harper displaying similar expressions. Out of all the possible developments the boys had pictured, this was most definitely not one of them.

* * *

"Whoooooooooooa….." Tim marveled as he wandered around the Batcave.

Yeah, he'd found the back entrance. He had a lot of free time, so with a map of his particular region of Gotham, Tim had managed to narrow down the location. There was a surprisingly small amount of possible sites where such an entrance could be found…Once one knew who the Batman was at least.

It had taken some rock climbing and getting his feet a bit wet, but Tim had managed to make his way in. Except, he'd missed Bruce. The man had obviously left long before Tim's unwelcome arrival, hence the lack of Batmobile. The assortment of Bat based vehicles still in the Cave truly amazed Tim. On top of that, the boy had spotted the Batcomputer…as well as a dinosaur. He made a mental note to ask about that later.

The tour he'd been given earlier of the Batcave hadn't included any of the wonders that caught the boy's eye now. It had clearly been condensed seeing as he'd only been shown the gyms (all three of them), the two training areas (there was a difference between training areas and gyms apparently), the gear/suit room, and one of the evidence lockers. Still interesting, but nothing in comparison to what he was now seeing.

"Tim!?" a female voice asked, in either shock or anger, from behind him. Whirling around, the boy gulped in fear when he spotted a fully suited up Batgirl standing there, hands on her hips. "What are you doing here? No, how did you get in here?"

Mouth suddenly dry, Tim couldn't seem to find his voice. So instead, he handed Batgirl the map he'd made to find his way into the Cave.

Snatching the proffered map, Batgirl frowned as she observed it. "Who gave you this?"

"Ugh…No-nobody. I made it."

"Why?" Behind the cowl, the girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"When I found out who Batman was," Tim explained, finally regaining full control over his vocal cords, "I wanted to help. So I decided to find an alternate entranceway into the Batcave, besides the one that was obviously inside the manor. You know, in case something bad happened and I'd need to lend a hand. Like right now!"

"Batman doesn't need your help. He has me," Barbara slammed the map into Tim's chest as she strode past him towards the Batcomputer.

Not to be put off, Tim trotted behind the female vigilante, "Then why did he lock you out, huh? He's being stubborn and something tells me, you're going to need help saving him from Two-Face."

Batgirl practically growled, "He fights Two-Face all the time. I do too. _You_ do not."

"You've never fought him while this emotionally connected to the case. Don't cops get pulled off of cases when they're emotionally involved? Something about being reckless and endangering their life and the lives of others? Ring any bells?"

"Then it's a good thing Batman and I aren't cops."

Tim glared at the back of Barbara's head as she typed something into the Batcomputer. Shortly afterward, the information Batman had on the current case involving Two-Face popped upon the screen.

Sensing the glare, Batgirl sighed in annoyance and glanced at the boy. "What do you want from me? I'm not going to take you out into the field! You're not trained, you're not quiet, and you'll just be in the way. It's my job to protect Batman now, so you can just go home Tim."

"You're doing a lousy job of looking out for Batman then. He just knowingly walked himself right into a trap, where were you? Right, not here! I live closer than you do to Bruce, I can keep a better eye on him, if only you guys would let me help! Also, I _have_ been trained. Any rich kid with a brain living in Gotham has taken self-defense, and on top of that, my dad signed me up for classes using a bo staff. I'm better than the instructor I've been at it for so long!"

"Prove it," Batgirl spat, "You beat me with the staff, and I take you with me. You lose, you go home." To Batgirl, that seemed like the easiest way to get rid of the little nuisance. He, a boy taught by normal people, clearly wasn't going to win against someone who has had training with Batman, even if said trainee was pretty weak in that particular weapon's area.

Tim didn't seem to notice or care about Batgirl's confidence. He just smiled and said, "Deal."

* * *

The three boys on the couch in an apartment in Blüdhaven gaped at the television. Why? Well, the screen was showing something impossible. It showed a smug Two-Face, flipping away with that obnoxious coin of his, with an unconscious and tied up Batman in the background.

Impossible. Virtually impossible. He was the goddamn Batman; he didn't just get knocked out and tied up! It was just something that didn't happen. Of course, apparently it did...and without backup…

"How the hell did that happen?" Roy asked, completely ignoring whatever monologue Two-Face was giving.

"Batsy is getting reckless again," Jason stated. It was common knowledge that a Batman on his own was a Batman who took chances he normally was smart enough not to make. "And where the hell is Batgirl? Isn't she supposed to be helping?"

Dick shrugged, eyes focused on the marred face of Harvey Dent. "Batman probably took measures in order to make sure she couldn't help him. When he takes unnecessary risks, he tries to go alone," the boy said.

"If he knows it's dumb, why'd he go anyway?" Roy asked his younger friend.

"He gets irrational when it comes to his sidekicks."

Jason scowled, "More so for some than others," he muttered.

"Jay," the ex-Boy Wonder stated, "You were still dead when Bruce got scary. Trust me; he was just as reckless. In fact, he was downright terrifying even as Bruce Wayne until Alfred had knocked some sense into him. He did, after all, have another kid to look after."

"Hey guys," Roy cut in, "does that shadow appear to be moving?" The archer pointed to the upper left side of the live video feed featuring Two-Face's dull monologue (which he was still giving) where, sure enough, the shadow did appear to be moving.

"Batgirl?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Batgirl," Dick agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Barbara Gordon was seriously questioning her life choices. Here she was, dressed as a bat, sneaking through the rafters of an abandoned warehouse, preparing to fight a complete and utter psychopath. How'd she get roped into it? Oh yeah, she was stubborn. That's why.

"…200 million in cash within the next twenty four hours. There will be absolutely no League interference…" Two-Face was saying once Batgirl started paying attention to his speech. She was finally in the perfect position for action; she was just waiting for the right moment…

"…show I'm serious, I'm going to begin with this pest!" the deranged criminal shouted suddenly. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Batman.

To Batgirl, that was the sign that it was the right moment. Slipping a hand into her utility belt, the redheaded vigilante pulled out a batarang. With a quick flip of the wrist, the tiny weapon went sailing straight and true towards its target: Two-Face's gun. The man gave a shout of rage as his weapon went sailing.

Jumping down from her hiding spot, Batgirl smiled at the camera before sending a kick to Mr. Dent's face. The disfigured man collapsed on the ground seemingly unconscious. With victory near at hand, Batgirl ran across the room towards her still not awake mentor. "Hey, Batman?" she shook his shoulder and gave a relieved smile when he groaned, "Welcome back!" Batman's eyes fluttered open underneath his cowl.

"Two-Face?" the Justice Leaguer questioned.

Batgirl sighed, "Currently incapacitated," she nodded towards the downed body.

"Good."

"Now hold still while I get these ropes off of you." Batman simply nodded while Batgirl went to work. Pulling out another batarang, the girl began cutting the ropes. As she was so focused on freeing Batman, Batgirl failed to notice Two-Face getting up.

That is, she failed to notice until he said, "Did you really believe I could go down so easily?" Batgirl cursed as she snapped her head up to stare at the man. "Such language," he chastised, "Now, I prepared myself for just this occasion."

"How so?" Batgirl asked, frantically sawing at the ropes.

Two-Face gave a grotesque grin. "Simple," he pulled out two small devices. Each device had a button, one purple the other orange. With both devices in his right hand, Two-Face pulled out his coin with the left. "Heads, I blow up northern Gotham. Tails, I blow up southern Gotham."

"Bombs. I see you took one from Joker's book."

Instead of responding to the jibe, Dent just threw the coin in the air. It flipped as if in slow motion. Up, up, up. Down, down, down. He caught the coin and peeked at it with a smile. "It appears as though the civilians of-"

CLANG!

Two-Face fell on the ground. Behind him, surprising everyone who was watching this battle going on at home, stood a young boy wearing a version of the Robin suit. It was patchy, as though thrown together last minute with hand me downs from the first one. He had on the green bottoms the other Robin had worn when he was eleven, the red top with green short sleeves from when the other kid was ten, and the same cape, black gloves, and boots from the costume Robin number one had worn at the time of his death. This new boy even had a domino mask and utility belt, although he seemed to have taken out Two-Face using other means.

"Hey Batgirl," the boy waved sheepishly.

Batgirl only blinked at the boy before asking, "Did you just hit Two-Face with a fire extinguisher?"

"Yep," walking over to the camera, the apparently new Robin said, "Hey cops, I sent you the address of this warehouse approximately five minutes ago. Your ETA as of now should place you at this location within the next hour. Two-Face will be safely restrained and awaiting arrest by then." With a businesslike nod, new Robin turned off the camera.

Batgirl just stared at the kid in awe. He'd been a bundle of nonstop energy on the way over, and now he was professional. The change was truly amazing. She continued staring as the boy dragged Two-Face's limp body over to a pillar and handcuffed him to it, then proceeded to tie him up with a rope he found lying around. "Batgirl, can you finish freeing Batman?" Tim asked with a smile. Now that Two-Face was safely taken care of, he figured his job was done so he could lose the air of professionalism.

Batman, recognizing the boy dressed as Robin right away, glared daggers at the two kids the instant he was up and on his feet again. "What is he doing here?" the stone cold tone clearly emphasized his disapproval.

_Robin_ smiled devilishly as Batgirl gulped. Her answer was clearly not going to be something Batman would want to hear.

"I um… I lost a bet."

* * *

Back in Blüdhaven, Chester Honeywell, formerly known as Dick Grayson a.k.a. Robin the Boy Wonder, sat stunned. He now knew exactly how Jason felt upon his return to the living...Well not exactly, but he understood the feeling of being replaced. He hadn't even been "dead" for a month yet! Never before in his life had the fourteen year old felt so insignificant. That newbie stole his name! The name his mother had given him! Apparently Bruce had lied to him when he'd said he'd cared. That he'd always be there for him. To the billionaire, he'd just been a pawn; a measly soldier in his war on the crime of Gotham. If his supposed father hadn't cared, who's to say the whole Justice League hadn't cared as well.

"Hey, Dick?" Roy asked the slowly simmering boy hesitantly, "You okay?"

Dick shook his head. Fine, if Bruce didn't care, then he wouldn't either. He could be heartless too.

"Hello?" Jason questioned obnoxiously, "Anyone there?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Dick said, far more calm than what the others had expected.

"You sure?" Roy asked in concern. From personal experience, the archer knew being replaced wasn't a good feeling.

"Positive," the younger male answered with a smile, "After all, Batman has become accustomed to having backup; he can't dwell on the loss of one sidekick for very long anymore."

Jason scoffed, "Really? You're trying to say you don't care that you've been replaced faster than even Roy? Excuse me if I don't believe you."

"Well believe me! I'm fine, honestly! Why do you guys want something to be wrong with me!?" Dick shouted before storming off to his room.

"Something tells me that he's not fine…" Jason stated, earning a glare from Roy. The two young men just sat there in silence, both reliving their experiences when it came to being replaced. Neither of them had taken it too well. After all, they risked their lives for their mentors. They assumed that they were special. Every sidekick believes that. It truly was a dream crusher once they realized they weren't as unique as they'd thought.

Suddenly Dick stomped out of his room, coat in hand.

"Going somewhere?" Jason called after his little brother.

"Yeah," the teen replied simply.

"Where?"

"Out."

"You gonna come back at some point?"

"Maybe," and then he was gone.

"Do you think he'll be okay on his own?" Roy asked after the door to the apartment had been slammed shut.

Jason turned off the news (which was having a field day over the appearance of New Robin) and sighed, "He should be fine. I think he just needs some time to cool off. By midnight he'll be back."

"You're probably right…"

Yet both young men somehow couldn't make themselves believe what they were saying.

* * *

"Stupid Batman, stupid League, stupid Gotham, stupid, stupid stupid!" Dick mumbled under his breath irritably as he made his way towards the bridge he'd been on the night he'd faked his death. "After everything I've done for him!" Fists clenched at his sides, the angered boy kicked the stone wall that made up the sides of the bridge.

With a heavy sigh, he rested his elbows on the wall and set his head in his hands. What had he expected to happen when he'd left? Truthfully, he knew he'd get replaced sooner or later. Batman and Batgirl needed help. That was obvious. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon after his civilian ID was proclaimed dead to the world.

Trying to reassure himself out lout, Dick heard himself say, "He probably had his reasons. He still cares…"

"But Richard, what has he done to show that?" a new voice asked from his right.

Snapping his head to face the intruder, Dick automatically tensed up once he realized it was the man he'd seen on the building, the one who'd been watching him, Jason, and Roy. The man's build was exactly the same, and sure enough, he was wearing armor.

"Calm down Richard, I'm not here to fight," the man said simply.

Still tense, Dick responded, "Excuse me for not trusting a stranger who somehow knows my name. I've never really had good experiences when this kind of a thing happens..."

"But you see I'm here to give you an offer, not anything else."

"Why would I accept an offer from a creepy man I don't know? This is becoming incredibly discomforting."

"Because my offer can help you achieve your true potential."

Normally, such an idea wouldn't tempt Dick, but for some reason, now it was incredibly enticing… "I don't really…" the teen trailed off not sure how to proceed. What was wrong with him? All he had to de was say no! When mysterious men offered true potential deals, it was bad news. Everyone, especially heroes, knew that. And yet… "Why should I accept? I can reach my true potential elsewhere."

Apparently that wasn't what the man had been expecting, but he looked pleased nonetheless. "But I can make Batman truly realize what he threw away when he fired you. I can make it so that you can make him regret ever replacing you."

That sparked Dick's anger once again; in fact, it sparked it so much he didn't even question how the man knew so much. All that the teen saw was red, and the joys of sweet revenge…Not since Zucco had he felt that way.

"Of course," the man continued, "You'll have to disappear. Tonight."

That caught Dick's attention, "You mean I won't be able to tell anyone that I'm going with you?"

"No, I do not wish for unwelcome company hunting me down so that they can speak with you."

"I don't know…It's not right…"

"It wasn't right how your talents were being wasted either. It wasn't right for Batman to throw you away. It wasn't right that to those you once called friends thought you were just a liability. I can train you to be better than what the League was allowing you to be. Better even then what Batman was allowing you to be."

The League…they'd been babying him. Batman had been babying him. The Team had been babying him. That's why he'd left. Now this man was offering him exactly what he wanted. "What's the catch?" the ex-Boy Wonder asked.

"I just want a protégée, you can be exactly that." The man responded.

Dick knew he should say no. In fact, everything about this situation was screaming and begging him to say no. _No, no, NO!_ That's all he had to say… But he couldn't. His emotions took over his voice when he said, "Okay, I accept your offer."

"Wonderful." the man said as he motioned for Dick to follow him and began walking off. Against every fiber of his being, Dick followed, silently begging Jason to show up and stop him, or at the very least, forgive him.

"You know," Dick told his apparently new mentor after a few minutes of walking, "You should really get a different mask, it's kind of weird."

If looks could kill, Dick would've died after that comment.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**A/N: Deathstoke has an emotionally distraught Richard! NOOOOOOOOOOO!**

**New Robin has made his appearance, rather unconventionally too. **

**You know...I can't quite recall next chapter...But I think there's a time jump/fast forward thing happening. **

**Au revoir mes amis!**


	7. Dispassionate

**A/N: Umm... Hey guys...It's been a while...**

**Anyway, I'm not going to disillusion you guys, this is my least favorite chapter yet :(**

**I tried so many times to fix it, and this is what I ended with. Basically there's a fast forward in time and then some setting of the stage for next chapter's epicness. Ugh, I hate fillers.**

**On the plus side, Renegade appears! Yay!**

**I'll try to be more efficient in 2013...My goal is to update one more time before the year ends. Will it happen? I don't know. I'm shooting for getting chapter eight up on my birthday.**

**As a side note, who has seen the Hobbit? Thoughts? Opinions?**

**Review Responses:**

_**Bumbleboy92: You reviewed in December! I don't know why, but it made me happy to see that I was still getting readers even with my lack of updates. Your list of "Perfect Things" made me smile because they're the factors that I love in a story too...Of course, that's why I'm using them...Thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Persistence: I completely understand, school is an evil device created to prevent the creative minds of the world from publishing their works on ! Then again, it does give us the grammar neessary to create these works...Anyway, I'm glad that you're liking the progression of the story! Deathstroke is a manipulative (insert mean word here that can accurately describe the cruelty that is Deathstroke)! That's my insight for the day ^^ Have a wonderful holiday season!**_

_**kuromi123: I finally updated! Yes, young Richard is now Renegade D: The League and the Team, I highly doubt, will find out Dick's alive in this story. Still debating a sequel. Anyway, nope. I figured the whole "Deathstroke kidnaps Robin" plot, despite how much I love and always read those fics, wouldn't work right. Add in some feelings of betrayel and emotional trauma, and BAM! You got a voluntary apprentice :D Erm... I'm gonna stop now because I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore...Hope you enjoy, and thanks for the review!**_

**I only did three this time because...I felt like it? I don't know...I'm running on no sleep.**

**Here's the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7- Dispassionate**

* * *

_"You can say I give you this information as a dispassionate observer."_

_―__Bill Goldberg _

* * *

Jason Todd waited. To say he'd been concerned would be an understatement, not that he'd admit it. Richard hadn't shown up at the apartment at all the previous night. Or at all the next day. Or even the day after that. None of Red Hood's sources knew anything; according to Red Arrow, not even the League database held any clues. It was as though the kid had vanished into thin air.

Half a year after Dick disappeared, both boys had given up hope of seeing the little bird ever again. Neither Red Hood nor Roy knew if he was taken, killed, or just chose to leave. That was probably what killed them the most. They didn't know if their brother left willingly or was forced. They didn't know what sort of state he was in. They didn't know anything.

In the span of the teen's absence, several things had changed. Red Arrow was now considered rogue. It all began due to his love interest: Cheshire. It was on a mission with the Team that Red Arrow had tagged along on. They were supposed to halt all activities at a League of Shadows base in the Rocky Mountains. For the quickly maturing team, everything was going swimmingly. That is, until a certain feline showed up. With her skills, Cheshire soon incapacitated Miss Martian, causing the young heroes to quickly retaliate. With the combined attacks of the remaining teammates, Cheshire was cornered in a matter of minutes.

Watching all of that, Red Arrow came to a conclusion; he couldn't just stand by as they arrested his girlfriend! So in a display surprising everyone, Red Arrow shot a smoke screen arrow, distorting the Team's view. There were shouts of complaint and confusion going all around, the perfect cover. Sprinting into the smoke he'd created, Red Arrow had grabbed Cheshire's hand and led her away. When the smoke cleared and the Team could see again, both Cheshire and their ally were gone.

However, that incident wasn't what clinched his rogue status. All that did was put it into debate. After all, he only helped out Cheshire. It was clearly a desperate action done for love. It's not like he had any malicious intent. Well, that's what Green Arrow and Black Canary argued, and it worked. All he'd gotten was a stern lecture about responsibility versus relationships while in the business.

The real reason that Red Arrow was now on the League enemy list was because of Red Hood. After the Cheshire incident, Roy had been skating on thin ice, but that didn't stop him from assisting his friend when he'd asked for help two weeks later. Red Hood's scheme was risky, he was going to steal tech from Wayne Enterprises, but he needed a lookout in order to do so. Roy was that lookout. Going into the mission, Red Arrow knew he'd be crossing a line with the League, but the tech was to help in the hunt for Dick. It was some sort of cell phone sonar programming that Wayne Enterprises kept under lock and key, supposedly it was a bit amoral.

During that fateful night, Red Arrow crouched on a building nearby the Wayne tower. When the Red Hood was almost done (he had the program, was escaping, and everything) the League showed up, or at least Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Hawkman. Knowing that he wasn't coming back from this one, Red Arrow showed off why exactly he'd once been called Speedy.

In quick succession he fired an arrow at the Wayne building with a wire attached so Red Hood could slide to safety, an arrow with kryptonite attached (courtesy of the original Robin) at Superman so he couldn't be an issue, and a smoke screen arrow to distract the other Leaguers. He fired them so fast that Red Hood was standing at his side by the time the League recovered. Normally it would've been more difficult to accomplish a feat such as evading the League, but the group of older heroes were clearly too relaxed. They'd expected an easy mission. Shame on them.

That night, Red Arrow had looked towards the League with a fierce look. He'd chosen who to side with, and it wasn't them. With a two finger salute from Red Hood, the two young men disappeared into the night, leaving behind a very shocked and betrayed Justice League. Red Arrow was classified as rogue the very next day, in the meantime disappearing off of the League's radar.

Another change was the official announcement of Robin number two and his subsequent training with the Team. As he wasn't yet an official sidekick, just an in-training one, Robin Two was considered an authorized guest by the zeta tubes. The last time Jason had managed to get information, the boy was being announced as A07.

Back in Blüdhaven, Jason had been forced to adjust to living without his little brother. The first adjustment involved him coming up with a tale to preserve their identities. The excuse he'd come up with was that the young Chester Honeywell had been sent to live with his mother for a while. At first, many people who Dick had gotten to know had knocked on the door with questions, much to Jason's chagrin. Luckily, the older "Honeywell" brother found that as time went on, less people came. In fact, even he was feeling the affects of time. The longer Dick was missing, the less he entered Jason's thoughts. That is, until something happened a few months later.

* * *

It was at the eight month mark that a figure known as Renegade began popping up. At first, people thought he was just made up. Even Jason thought he wasn't real. Renegade was said to be a thief, an errand boy for the most ruthless mercenary on the planet. That's why Jason didn't believe he existed. Nobody had enough guts to work for Deathstroke the Terminator.

When Renegade was still said to be causing problems at the ten month mark, Jason finally acknowledged his existence. In fact, he was even beginning to respect the thief…until he stole thousands of dollars from Red Hood's business. That made the anti-hero pissed. Nobody stole from him. It was at that point Red Hood decided it was time to meet this Renegade character face to face.

And he had the perfect idea for such a meeting too.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Roy said as soon as Jason had relayed his plan.

Jason scoffed at the other guy's criticism, "I'll have you know," he said, "that it's better than anything those tight wearers in the League could come up with to catch the guy."

"No it's not. There's a reason Renegade hasn't been caught yet, and it isn't because of bad plans. He's good at what he does."

"Which makes my plan so perfect!"

"Perfectly stupid."

Jason glared at his red-headed friend, "Listen, those do-gooders, like the cops, Mini Justice, and the League are using do-gooder methods to catch Renegade. Their way isn't working. It's smart, sure, but it's not going to get anything done."

"And your way will? It's crazy and way too simple to catch him!"

"That's why it'll work. It's so simple that he'll have no choice but to play along."

Roy just rolled his eyes and walked away. As he walked though, he couldn't help but realize that, despite the idiocy and simplicity of it all, Red Hood's plan could actually draw the infamous Renegade out of hiding.

* * *

"Check out the happenings in Blüdhaven!" Wally called as he sped into the room after just entering the cave.

"Why?" Connor asked monotonously, he and Kaldur had been playing a nice, quiet game of chess, until the speedster had interrupted.

"Red Hood is up to something."

Kaldur moved his queen and then turned to face Wally. "I believe that the Red Hood is always up to something," the Atlantian said.

"But this time it involves Renegade!" Wally's exclamation instantly drew the attention of everyone in the room. All eyes, those of Kaldur, Connor, Zatanna, Megan, Artemis, and Raquel, were wide in amazement. Renegade was a mystery, a specter that even had the League stumped. The thief was good at what he did, going in and out of even Wayne Enterprises without setting off an alarm. He was so good that he was dangerous. Especially given that he worked under the infamous assassin Deathstroke.

That's why the League wanted him. He was accomplishing feats for a man high up on their priority list. The objects that Renegade had taken already weren't all that valuable by themselves, but Batman was close to discovering just how dangerous they could be when combined. Add Deathstroke into the equation, and the League had a serious problem on their hands. Then, of course, there were the millions of dollars that had been stolen as well. Nobody knew if the money was just Renegade going for some self-profit or if Deathstroke needed it to buy something.

Either way, one person that'd been robbed was the drug lord of Blüdhaven, Red Hood. The team didn't know a lot about Red Hood, but they did know that he had some personal connection to Batman. They also knew that one did not simply mess with the Red Hood and get away with it…Or at least, nobody did until Renegade came along.

"Well?" an impatient Wally asked, "Turn on the news! It's got to be showing everywhere by now!"

Not needing to be told again, Artemis grabbed the remote and flicked on the television. The scene that greeted the team was…unexpected? Odd? Inventive? A bit much? They really weren't quite sure how to describe it because what the screen was showing was all of that and more.

What the news was broadcasting that had the teens in shock was a massive fire on top of a rather wide building. It wasn't just a random fire either. It was controlled. In fact, it was controlled so well, the message it was trying to send was crystal clear. Even from the news chopper that was sending the image to the public. See, the message the fire was sending…was a literal message. Like, with words and everything. It read:

_Dear Mr. Renegade,_

_I do not take kindly to little punk asses taking my stuff! You got a problem with me you say it to my face! Or are you not man enough? _

_With regards,_

_Red Hood_

_P.S. You'll regret ever screwing with my business._

_P.S.S. Fuck you asshole!_

"Is Red Hood challenging Renegade to a fight?" Raquel asked in amazement.

"It would appear so," Kaldur responded, equally amazed.

Artemis snorted, "He didn't hold back on his feelings, did he?" she observed amused.

"Why would Red Hood do this?" Miss Martian questioned aloud to herself, which drew the others' attention.

"What do you mean Megan?" Zatanna asked.

"Well," the Martian began, "Renegade doesn't seem like the kind of guy to be baited by such a blatant challenge, and Red Hood, from what I've learned about him, should be smart enough to know that."

"So why would a smart guy like the legendary Red Hood do something like this to draw out an enigma like Renegade?" Raquel summed up.

"That's what you are going to find out," Batman's voice said suddenly, causing everyone to jump. The team looked around in confusion until Aqualad decided to grab his comm. unit which had the Dark Knight's image on its screen. The rest of the teens quickly followed suit and grabbed their comm. units as well.

"Excuse me Batman, but why are you not delivering this mission to us in person? Or on the screen in the briefing room?" ever the leader, Aqualad was the one to ask.

Batman scowled, "The Joker broke out of Arkham, so I'm needed here in Gotham. I also tried contacting you as I normally would if I couldn't go directly to the cave, but nobody answered. I'm assuming that you couldn't hear me due to the volume of the television."

At Batman's reproach, Zatanna quickly grabbed the remote from where Artemis had set it and turned down the volume. "Sorry," the magician in-training apologized, "we should probably finish updating our alert system…" of course, before his death, Robin had been the one updating it, but Zatanna wasn't about to bring up the deceased hero.

"We'll address that later," Batman stated, "Right now, I have a mission for you. As you know, Red Hood is causing havoc in Blüdhaven in an attempt to draw out Renegade. Your job is to head over there, lookout for either Renegade or Red Hood, and apprehend them if possible."

"You actually think Renegade's gonna show?" Rocket asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're going there as a precautionary measure. If he does show, you'll be there. That's a better outcome than him showing and nobody being there. Batman out," after that not so good goodbye, the screens on the comm. units all went blank.

Kid Flash was the first to speak up, as per usual, "Did anyone else think Batman seemed a bit out of character?"

"Just you Baywatch," Artemis dismissed.

"Bioship is ready to go Aqualad," Miss Martian informed before Kid Flash could say anything to offend the archer.

The Atlantian nodded and said, "Very well, then let us move out."

* * *

"Shitshitshitshitshit…" Red Hood muttered as he hopped onto another building. Everything had been going according to plan when out of nowhere the freakin' mini capes popped up and chased him halfway across his own city! Since when did the League get so involved in Blüdhaven? They usually let it rot on its own. When the twerps were hunting down Dick about a year earlier it hadn't been as surprising. Dick was the Batman's ward after all. But Dick was dead. Even Chester was gone. So why would the punks be there now?

"I think he went that way," Red Hood winced when he heard the Martian's voice, they were getting closer.

"Do you hear his heartbeat Superboy?" the magician girl's voice asked.

The clone's grunt sounded out, "There's too many around here to pick out his," he explained.

"I say we check there," the archer suggested, obviously pointing toward where Red Hood was hiding behind a smokestack.

"Wait!" Kid Flash's tone screamed shock, "Look over there! I see his hood! And it's going fast!"

"I see him too!" Rocket.

"No way could he get there so fast." Artemis.

"It looks like him though, can't you see the jacket?" Superboy.

"It appears to be him." Aqualad.

"Well, come on!" Zatanna.

Footsteps taking off quickly.

Red Hood sighed in relief. How embarrassing would it have been if he'd been caught by the wannabe heroes? He was too good to go down that easily, even if he didn't have powers. Well, he had a gun…he supposed that was close.

Dusting himself off to return back to the lonely apartment, Red Hood became aware of a presence nearby. Looking up, he noticed a small silhouette standing on top of the no longer in use smokestack.

"Hey!" Red Hood yelled up at the figure, pulling out a gun to add emphasis, "Get down here and show yourself or I'll blow your brains out!" Red Hood kept his gun trained on the figure as it shrugged and quickly made its way down.

"What's got you so rattled?" the surprisingly monotonous voice of a teenager came from the figure once he was safely on the rooftop. The voice was clearly male, obviously mid-puberty too…yet it was oddly familiar.

"Who are you?"

The kid stepped into some light so Red Hood could finally see him. He was muscular and stood only about an inch or two shorter than the anti-hero. He was wearing a black spandex suit with a red bird…thing on his chest, he also had short raven hair, and a mask with white lenses so that his eyes weren't visible. What really made the boy stand out though was his haunted smirk. It was familiar, yet not…and it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"You gonna answer me?" Red Hood asked annoyed.

The kid shrugged, "I was getting to it, although you should know who I am. You did invite me here after all."

Red Hood's jaw dropped, "You. You're Renegade?"

"Yep."

This…was not what he'd been expecting. Red Hood, like many others, assumed that Renegade was a big, thug-like, threatening guy in his mid- twenties. A kid in his mid-teens? Definitely a surprise. That meant killing him would be morally wrong...There goes his evening. On the upside, his plan did draw out the thief. And on that note…

"What the fuck man!?" Red Hood shouted, "You think you can just steal from me and get away with it? Just because you're a kid, doesn't mean that I'm going to let you get off the hook that easily. I won't kill you as I planned, but I will beat you within an inch of your life."

"I am not a kid," Renegade muttered dully, "Haven't been for a while."

"Doesn't matter how old you think you are, physically, you're what? Sixteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Close enough. Now, how about you just give me back my money, plus an extra-" as he'd been talking, Renegade had rushed over and slapped his gloved hand over where Red Hood's mouth was, much to the older man's irritation. Sure, he could've kept talking, but the shock of some kid being gutsy enough to do such a thing to him, the Red Hood, had made him shut up on the spot.

"We've got company," the young thief whispered.

Red Hood looked around in confusion. Nobody was around them, so why did Renegade think there was? The kid was probably a nutcase, and not in the cool way like he himself was. Except, right after that thought passed through Red Hood's head, footsteps were heard.

"I swear I saw him!" Kid Flash's exasperated tone filled the air.

"We all saw him Kid, but it was not actually him." Aqualad reassured.

"Who would project Red Hood's image onto that building?" Zatanna asked, "And who can make it look so realistic too?"

"And why would it just disappear like that once we got close? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep the projection up?" Miss Martian added.

As the team discussed possibilities, Renegade motioned for Red Hood to follow him with a finger to his lips. Silently, the two morally challenged young men inched off of the roof Young Justice was unknowingly sharing with them and jumped onto one lower down. They continued their building jumping until they were comfortable with the distance between them and the super teens. That's when Red Hood rounded on Renegade.

Pulling out his gun, the anti-hero spun to where the teen had been standing only to find that the kid had disappeared. "What the…?"

"Hey, Hood, want to see something cool?" the familiar voice of Renegade came from on top of the billboard that stood atop the roof they were on. Despite the youthful wording, Renegade sounded completely emotionless when he spoke. That was a cause of concern for Red Hood. A kid shouldn't sound like that. Especially one Dick's age…wait….a possible connection formed in Red Hood's mind just then, but he didn't voice his thoughts. Whether it was because he didn't want to guess just yet or he was afraid that he was right, he didn't know. Either way, he decided to push that thought back for a later time.

"Well? Do you?" Renegade's monotone voice asked.

"It better be good," was all Red Hood said. Although in the dim lighting caused by the lights from the billboard, he noticed the haunted smirk form on Renegade's face again.

"Oh it will be," Renegade stated while flipping down from his perch so that he was once again level with Red Hood. All Red Hood could do was hope that Renegade wasn't purposely making a habit of doing that.

"Well," Red Hood asked impatiently, "What do you want to show me?"

"This," right after he said that, Renegade pushed a button on his gauntlet and the Red Hood found himself staring at…himself. A full- fledged, 3D, completely lifelike version of himself.

"What the hell is this?" reaching out to touch his other self's mask, Red Hood found his hand going right through it.

"It's a holograph. I'm able to project it distances by combining it with tech from my holocomputer."

"You're the one who distracted the Justice Kids?"

"I found it only fair since I brought them here."

"What?" Red Hood was confused now.

"Following orders. When you challenged me, you challenged Deathstroke. He doesn't like getting ordered around. He sent me to handle the problem, as in you."

"So what, you're going to kill me?" Red Hood asked in amusement, still observing the odd boy, "If so, what was the point of sending the mini Justice League?"

"It was just a bit of fun."

And if that wasn't creepy when said tonelessly, Red Hood didn't know what was. "What do you mean?"

"I was trying out a new program. I'll show you," Renegade said. He then pulled up a holosccreen divided down the middle. On the left side was an image of Batman in the Batcave. The right side was blank.

"I don't get it," Red Hood stated.

Renegade's smirk appeared again. What shocked Red Hood was that the image of Batman smirked at the same time. "I see you figured it out," Renegade observed, at the same time, Batman's mouth moved and his voice sounded from the screen.

"Wow," Red Hood whispered, "So you tricked the little heroes by pretending to be Batman and sent them here for your own amusement? All the while intending for them not to accomplish what you fake sent them to do? And people call me sadistic."

Renegade's mouth quirked downwards, "I suppose that I should end the charade then," he said, the Batman image doing the same thing in synch with the thief. Red Hood just looked curiously at the boy as he typed something onto his wrist computer...thing. The ex-hero couldn't help but be envious of such an item. He really needed to get himself one of those.

Red Hood's jealous brooding was interrupted when an image of the Young Justice team inside of some sort of spaceship…thing appeared on the right side of Renegade's screen.

"Batman?" the fish boy asked in surprise, "We are on our way back to the mountain now, why are you calling us?"

The Batman image on the left screen glared at the same time as Renegade, "I see you didn't catch either Red Hood or Renegade. Why is that?"

Red Hood could barely contain his laughter when all of the kids paled. After a few minutes of watching the kids squirm, the Martian finally spoke up. "Renegade didn't show up and Red Hood was too hard to keep track of," she explained.

"Well that's a load of garbage," Renegade stated. From the looks on the team's faces, Red Hood could clearly tell they were in shock at Batman for using such an un-Batman-like phrase.

"Excuse me?" the magician, Zatanna, managed to ask.

"You heard me. That's a load of garbage. I know for a fact that Renegade is here, and I'm looking right at Red Hood."

"What are you talking about?" Kid Flash asked.

Renegade/Batman smirked, "Allow me to show you." Suddenly the image of the Batcave behind the Dark Knight's image fizzled out until the screen showed the back of the billboard that was literally behind Renegade.

"What just happened?" the speedster, ever the questioner, inquired.

"Surprise, I'm not in the Batcave!" Once again with the creepiness involved with a lack of emotion, "But that's not all!"

Just like with the Batcave, the image of Batman began to fizzle out, only to be replaced with a Renegade sized silhouette.

"Who are you?" Superboy asked, as he was the only one who seemed to have retained his voice upon the revelation that Batman wasn't actually Batman.

"I'm Renegade. It's a pleasure to meet you, by the way. Sorry about the wild goose chase, but I didn't want Red Hood thinking that he was in control," Renegade said, although it appeared that the team was hearing his voice as an obviously distorted baritone, "And I'm not actually sorry. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some issues to bring up with a certain fellow in a red helmet. Bye." The gaping faces of Young Justice were the last things Red Hood observed before the screen vanished and he was preoccupied with a new challenge. This new challenge was Renegade, for the teen had pulled out two short swords.

"You wanted to fight," Renegade said dispassionately to Red Hood, who was in the process of pulling out his own weapon, "So let's fight."

* * *

**A/N: THAT ENDING! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG GG! I hate it so much!**

**Ahem...Read and review, no flames and whatnot... **

**I almost forgot! I don't own YJ!**

**I'll try to be better at updating...**

**There's three chapters left! Plus a potential epilogue! So there could be 4. **


	8. Disenchantment

**A/N: You guys! I feel like an awful human being for disappearing on randomly long breaks when you review such nice things! So thanks for being awesome!**

**Shortest chapter I've written in quite some time, so...sorry. Furthermore, my inexperience with action scenes is clearly displayed, but have no fear! I will get better! **

**My confidence in this chappy is rather low too, but... It could partially be due to some OOCness and rushing. I tried to go through Jason's thought process, to explain things better. I hope it worked! **

**Ahem, I shall not beat around the bush, so here ya go!**

* * *

**Chapter 8- Disenchantment **

* * *

"_We dream, we wake on a cold hillside, we pursue the dream again. In the beginning was the dream, and the work of disenchantment never ends."  
― __Kim Stanley Robinson__, __Icehenge_

* * *

Red Hood was not scared. Not one single bit. He was no longer capable of feeling such an emotion. So, when Renegade charged him with a ferocity that was borderline animalistic, Red Hood's heart most definitely did not start beating faster. His eyes did not grow wide. He was not scared. Concerned? Eh, he may have been a tad bit concerned. But not scared. Not one little bit. Not even when he began to tire while Renegade's barrage of sword swinging didn't halt.

That's another thing. The stupid kid never stopped moving enough for Red Hood to get a shot off. It was constant motion with him. More constant, even, than what Red Hood had gone through in his Bat-protégée days. Duck. Jump. Flip. Block. Never slowing, never halting, never predictable…never a good sign.

Renegade's movements were precise and potentially deadly…but every time his swipe could've cleaved off Red Hood's head, he'd falter for less than half of a second, barely giving the anti-hero enough time to dodge. The hesitation wasn't that noticeable, but it was there. It almost as though something was holding the kid back from truly aiming to kill. Something like a conscience.

Just as Red Hood realized that the little punk may not be as ruthless as he originally appeared, something completely unexpected happened.

It began with a slight creaking noise, then just like that, Renegade's right foot fell through the crumbling ceiling they'd been having their little bout on. After struggling for a minute or so, it was quite obvious that the thief was now stuck. It was also quite obvious that the teen was now at the mercy of a gasping, but smirking, Red Hood. Not quite how he'd planned on the fight going, but he'd take it.

"Nobody can best me kid," the ex-hero cockily boasted, while still attempting to regain his breath. "You should've known better than to mess with the Red-"

CRACK!

Before he could finish his little monologue, the building made a terrible creaking noise. Red Hood's eyes barely had time to widen before both he and the trapped Renegade were sent tumbling down through the newly collapsed ceiling. Low and behold, they'd been duking it out on top of an abandoned warehouse. Even inadvertently they were cliché.

As he fell into the warehouse, Red Hood barely managed to grab onto a guard rail from the catwalk, preventing his imminent contact with the cold, slightly cracked, cement flooring below. After hanging there limply for a while to regain his bearings, Red Hood managed to maneuver his way down to the ground, which was now covered in pieces of the broken roof. As he glanced at the pile of rubble out of his peripheral, Red Hood finally remembered the kid he'd fallen into the warehouse with…the kid who was conspicuously absent.

Red Hood turned toward the pile of debris with wide eyes, did Renegade get buried alive? Brief panic overcame the anti-hero at the thought. Sure the kid was annoying, and maybe a bit insane, but that didn't mean he had to die. He was, after all, just a kid. Of course, it was at that exact moment when an object, closely resembling a batarang, landed right in front of him. Then it began to beep.

"Oh shit!" Red Hood managed to shout before diving out of the way, the force of the ensuing explosion scattering/obliterating the debris where, seconds before, he'd thought Renegade to be. Of course, it was now obvious the thief was not buried.

Nor was he armed with just his swords.

Perfect. Just flipping perfect.

"Nice dodge," the familiar voice of Renegade rang out from somewhere in the rafters, away from the moonlight entering through the newly added hole in the ceiling. "Can you do it again?"

The next thing Red Hood knew, the small explosives were raining down on him from above. He'd dodge one, only to find another coming at him. Flipping away from another barrage, Red Hood couldn't help but find something oddly familiar about this technique. It vaguely reminded him of something a Bat would do…But who else in the Batfamily….? Oh no. That was impossible. Deathstroke was obviously taking pages from Batman's book because there was no way possible that the person he was thinking about could ever sound so…dead inside, the way Renegade did. Right?

Red Hood's musings were cut short when a boot smashed into his face, knocking off his helmet. Now with just a domino mask, Red Hood's glare was completely visible. "What the hell man!?" he asked irritated. Nobody kicked off his fucking helmet and got away with it!

The haunted smirk appeared on the thief's face, but what Renegade said next was what really stood out. It confirmed all of Red Hood's fears. "You were predictable, and I was faster. Remember Jason, if your opponent is faster, you've got to adjust."

Oh God. "Dick?"

* * *

"Should we go back?" Kid Flash asked while the Bioship hovered. The Team had been unsure what to do after Renegade's call, so they opted to just float in place and debate. "I think we should go back."

"I disagree," Aqualad, surprisingly, said.

"Why?" Miss Martian asked the Atlantian. She'd assumed everyone would be willing to go back and help the poor civilians; she had yet to get acquainted with the horror that was Blüdhaven.

"Our mission was a hoax. The real Batman expects us to still be at Mount Justice. If we were to really be needed in Blüdhaven, our Batman would have contacted us upon realizing we were no longer at the mountain." Aqualad reasoned.

"He's got a point," Artemis agreed, "If the League really wanted us to intervene, they'd have called. Besides, it's Blüdhaven; we'd do more harm than good if we hung around in hero form."

Zatanna nodded, "Yeah, let's go home. We're not supposed to be here. My father even told me once that the League generally avoids Blüdhaven, that the city is too chaotic for them to handle. Not that they'd admit it though."

"What about the fires?" Rocket asked, "Red Hood and his men basically set the whole place on fire. What if the fire department needs help?"

"It seems that we are split evenly," Aqualad noted.

"Supey still has to vote," Kid Flash pointed out. All eyes turned to the clone in question.

Connor shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the sudden attention. What did he want to do? It used to be Robin's job to reason with the others in these situations. The young boy had been skilled at swaying opinions in his favor. Apparently the responsibility now fell onto him, the clone who hadn't even been around experiencing the Earth for three years yet. Yep, that's a wise choice for a tie breaker.

Of course, with the remembering of Robin, Connor's self doubt vanished only to be replaced with sorrow. He missed the boy terribly, the others did too. Even if he'd died over a year ago and been replaced shortly thereafter. Not that Connor had anything against the new kid hero…

"Uh, Supey?" Kid Flash's voice, and hand waving in front of his face, drew the boy of steel out of his reverie.

"Yeah?" Superboy asked, knowing fully well what the speedster was going to say.

"Are we going back or going home?"

What would Robin do?

"Um…"

People needed help.

"I think…"

But, if what he'd heard of Blüdhaven was true, the help Young Justice had to offer wouldn't be accepted.

"Let's just go home."

Superboy stared at the floor of the ship the entire way back to Mount Justice. The whole time he wondered if he actually did pick what Robin would have. It was the smarter decision after all.

…Wasn't it?

* * *

Renegade froze. "Dick Grayson is dead," he stated causing Red Hood to wince.

"Oh God, it is you," Red Hood gasped, taking a step forward.

Renegade didn't seem to like that. Readjusting his grip on his swords, the now confirmed ex-Boy Wonder pointed the deadly objects at his older brother. "Don't get any closer Hood."

For the first time that night, Red Hood heard emotion in Renegade's voice. It wasn't nostalgia, guilt, sadness, or any of the other emotions he expected from a Dick Grayson turned criminal. No, the only emotion Red Hood heard was fury. Pure, unrelenting, venomous fury.

Holding up his hands, he wasn't going to hurt the kid now that he knew it was his little brother, Red Hood asked, "What happened to you Dick?"

"I told you, Dick Grayson is dead!" Renegade's posture got more threatening and Red Hood took a step back in shock. In the short span of time he'd been hanging around this Renegade persona of his brother, he hadn't lost control once. But now that Red Hood knew Renegade was Dick, it was almost as though the floodgates had opened and the teen's repressed emotions were slowly beginning to overwhelm him. The last thing Red Hood needed at that moment was for a volatile Dick Grayson to attack him. Something told him it'd be much more violent than their previous brawl had been.

"That didn't answer my question," the older of the two boys stated.

Renegade glared, "I don't have to answer your questions!"

"I'm just curious," Red Hood thought of a lot of other things he could've told Dick, but he didn't think it would help his cause. "How about you just tell me what happened the night you disappeared."

"I don't answer questions asked by people I've been ordered to kill."

Red Hood's heart literally stopped right there. Goody two shoes Grayson killed? "What?"

"You heard me Red Hood, I've been ordered to kill you by Deathstroke himself."

"Not that part! You've killed people?"

Renegade shifted his weight slightly, something Red Hood had noticed Dick did a lot when he got uncomfortable. At least some things never changed.

"Well, not yet," Renegade admitted before sneering, "But that doesn't mean I don't know how. And that doesn't mean I won't do it!"

"Do you want to?"

"Huh?"

"Kill me. Do you want to kill me?"

Shifting his weight again, Renegade's expression changed in rapid succession from confusion, to regret, to fear, to anger.

"You deserve to die," the younger boy hissed.

That statement made Red Hood's blood boil. Screw calming the little shit down! Who was Dick to decide whether or not he, the Red Hood, deserved death! The brat had absolutely no right! "I deserve to die!?" the offended man bellowed. "I think you're mistaken. With all of the lives you've probably ruined by working for Deathstroke, maybe you're the one who deserves to die!"

"YOU DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!?" Renegade shouted, charging Red Hood with his swords drawn. Red Hood easily dodged the younger's rage induced attack, but the teen quickly turned his anger into an advantage for himself, putting more power behind his movements.

"What do you mean?" Red Hood asked as he ducked a blow that could've sliced off half of his face.

"I've ruined lives, and I may not have killed anyone, but I am responsible for quite a few deaths," the other boy raged, picking up speed as his self loathing enhanced his overall anger.

Flipping out of the way of yet another strike, Red Hood kicked Renegade's left hand, causing the sword being held in it to go sailing across the room. "How are you responsible?"

"I've been sent on seven assassination assignments before yours. All seven of them killed themselves once I arrived and told them that Deathstroke sent me. Jumped right out of their windows, or off of roofs, one person grabbed a butcher knife from their kitchen and sliced his own throat." Renegade kicked Red Hood in the chest sending him flying back a few yards, their fight halting as the teen continued talking, "I had to kidnap a few people as well. Eighteen people ages ranging from twenty three to fifty one. All of them were killed by Deathstroke in the end." What Red Hood noticed during Renegade's little monologue was that he'd gone back to having no emotion.

It was a defense mechanism, he noted, which could only mean one thing…

Deathstroke had broken his little brother.

"What happened to you?" Red Hood heard himself ask again. This time Renegade answered.

As manic grin formed on his face, the teen exclaimed, "What happened to me? I reached my true potential! Don't you see it Red Hood? I'm not meant to be a hero! That's why I was so easily replaced, that's why I always needed help! That's why in the end I had to abandon everyone!" Renegade's voice was borderline hysteric, maybe even a bit psychotic. It was rather disconcerting, and Red Hood guessed that if he could see the younger's eyes, they'd look rather crazed at the moment.

"Nobody even misses poor orphan Richard Grayson anyway," Renegade continued, "They all moved on. Even you did. You gave up on me, you stopped looking."

"Dick, er, I mean, Renegade, I didn't mean to stop looking. I thought you died. I didn't know you'd been taken."

"Don't you get it!? I wasn't taken! I _chose_ to leave! Batman needs to regret ever replacing me! The League needs to pay for ever looking down on me! Killing you will just be the beginning! Once word spreads that Red Hood was killed by Renegade, the whole hero community will fear my name! Once that happens, I'll show them exactly what they threw away."

Red Hood blinked in surprise. Dick had willingly gone with Deathstroke? That wasn't possible! Unless…unless the younger boy hadn't actually had an encounter with the mercenary prior to when he'd vanished. If that was the case, why hadn't the League taught Dick about that creep earlier?

Come to think of it, why hadn't he?

Red Hood frowned; he'd failed to reveal the horrors of the world to his brother, just like Bruce had failed to with him when he was younger. Well, Red Hood wasn't going to fail Dick again.

He refused to be like Bruce again.

"Richard," Renegade winced at the mention of his name, "come back to the apartment okay? We can get through this, two head cases are better than one in the family anyway." Red Hood's attempt at humor went unnoticed, especially with what Renegade did next.

"No. NO! I can't go back! I can't ever go back! You hate me for leaving, he said so. He said everybody hates me because I left! Because I wasn't good enough! Nobody but him can ever be proud of me. You just want me to go back because I'm dangerous now! You want to use me! You want to kill me! I won't let that happen!" Renegade began shaking. Whether in fury, fear, or something else, Red Hood didn't know. All he knew was that his brother was quite literally coming undone right in front of him.

Fucking Deathstroke, the bastard, had clearly played mind games with his little brother. Red Hood was beyond pissed off, but before he killed the mercenary, he had to calm the currently unstable Dick. One thing at a time.

"Dick," Red Hood said gently, if that was even possible (especially with his current set of emotions), as he removed his mask becoming Jason Todd again, "Look me in the eyes."

Renegade shifted his weight before meeting the eyes of the boy who helped him after he'd run away. The boy who'd comforted him after he faked his death. The boy who understood just what it was like to loose his mind completely, something Renegade could now relate to.

"Listen to me when I say that I want you to come home, not because you're a fucking weapon now. I miss you. Hell, Roy misses you too. Don't listen to a thing that creep has told you."

"No! You don't miss me! I left…you hate me! You want to use me!"

"Richard John Grayson, I do not hate you! I want to help you get through this, whatever it was that that monster did to you." Jason wasn't quite sure when he became the sane one, but it was an odd feeling. A feeling that he never wanted to feel again. As soon as Dick was healed, Jason knew, he'd be the crazy Bat again. After all, one can't recover their sanity after dying. Dick may never be the same again, but the majority of his mind would return in time.

"I-I believe you," Renegade muttered, seemingly astonished by his own confession. Then if that wasn't enough of a shocker, he added, "But I can't go back."

"What?" Jason was confused now; he'd just given a heartfelt speech. Weren't things supposed to be all fine and dandy with rainbows and sunshine?

Damn. He must've been watching way too much TV recently if he thought that.

Renegade, seemingly oblivious to Jason's bewilderment, walked over to his lost sword and picked it up. "Deathstroke caused this. He played with my head," the teen stated venomously, "and he will pay. I'll make sure of that."

"How?" Jason asked as he put his mask back on. Dick was still unstable, but so long as his instability induced ire was directed elsewhere, he could handle it.

"Simple," Renegade said while sheathing his swords, "He unmade me mentally, so I'm going to unmake him physically."

Red Hood looked in surprise at Renegade, his not so little anymore brother. His not so little anymore brother who just said he was going to murder someone. He understood that Deathstroke needed to die, but he wasn't comfortable with Dick being the one who did it.

Especially since he really wanted to do it himself.

He decided he needed to voice his thoughts, "I'm not sure that-"

"Sorry Jay," Renegade interrupted, his voice went blank again, never a good sign, "But this is something I've got to do…and I've got to do it alone."

That's when Red Hood noticed the flash bomb the younger boy had placed, just as it went off too. Effectively blinded, Red Hood couldn't see anything for a good five minutes. Upon regaining his sight he wasn't surprised to find Renegade gone.

With a sigh, Red Hood leaned up against a nearby warehouse wall and pulled out his cell phone. After pondering his options for a bit, Red Hood decided that he probably should call up the person he, surprisingly, was starting to call his friend…maybe even his best friend.

"Hey Roy Boy, I've got some news for you…"

* * *

**A/N: Not my best, but if I kept nit-picking everything it never would get posted. :D**

**Notice the lack of Review Responses? That's because I couldn't pick which ones to respond to! You guys are all so wonderfully inspiring (and I'm pretty beat)!**

**In other news, I am commencing my first type up of the sequel! What would you like to see? I've got the beginning planned out rather well, and a few pieces in the middle (one bit is very Tim heavy) but after that it could go anywhere! PM me with suggestions or characters you'd like to see!**

**Chapter 9 could potentially take some time...**

**That wraps it up! I hope you enjoyed! It's coming to an end real soon! **


	9. Destinations

**A/N: IMPORTANT: There is a flashback-esque thing happening in this chapter (it's the giant italicized section,) just thought I'd let you all know.**

**I own abso-positive-alutely nothing. There is some violence and language (as per usual) so be warned. **

**Note: I'm not going to go into detail over a lot of things in order to set up for the sequel. My original idea for this story came in the form of the sequel I'm now typing. So, this is technically a prequel. SURPRISE! ^^**

**I'm not sure if this chapter is actually done (as in the editing process), but I just saw it today and was like "Meh, why not?"...So here it is! YAY!**

**Review Responses: **

_**Kibates: **_**Thanks for the super positive review! I hope that this chapter meets your epectations. I did go a different route with the battle with Deathstroke and Renegade, it was a risk so I'm curious if it was a hit or a conclusion, I'm so glad that this is one of your favorite stories! Your review really brightened my day when I saw it! :D**

_**MARKAC: **_**Thanks for reviewing! Your constructive criticism was greatly appreciated. I hope you continue reading :D**

_**sweetfoxgirl13: **_**O_o You evil laughed...Anyway, when I saw your review I read it super fast in my head, so it felt like you were on a sugar high or somthing. Thanks sooooo much for the review! Your feedback was great to hear...er...read! :D**

**_angelxofxmine:_ Ahhh! Thank you for complimenting my capturing of emotion! It was one of the things I really struggled (and still struggle) on. It really means a lot! I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 9- Destinations**

* * *

_I__f the destination is heaven, why do we scramble to be first in line for hell?__  
__―__Douglas Horton_

* * *

"Do you think he killed him?" Kid Flash, in his civvies, asked some three weeks or so after the "Blüdhaven Incident" as the Team has begun to call their excursion to said city.

Presently, they were all lounging in front of the television. Even their unofficial member, the now thirteen year old Robin, was there tinkering with a laptop. He was an awful lot like his predecessor in that respect. Batgirl had opted out of joining Young Justice, saying that she wasn't ready for the whole "team thing" yet.

"Who killed who now?" Robin asked from his perch atop the backrest of the couch, feet resting on the cushion beside the speedster, attention still focused on the laptop.

"Do you think Red Hood killed Renegade?"

"No," Robin stated.

"How are you so sure?" Wally asked defensively, "We haven't heard of any new Renegade activity since that night."

"Was that supposed to convince me that he's dead?"

"No, it just seems a bit weird that he disappeared after Red Hood challenged him. That's all I'm saying."

"Well, all I'm saying is that Red Hood didn't kill Renegade."

"What makes you say that?"

"That's classified Bat information."

While the bird and the speedster argued, the rest of the team occupied themselves by pretending not to be listening. The new Robin was becoming an increasingly common sight in the Mountain. Every time he arrived, he told the Team of some new trick Batman had taught him. Of course, his predecessor showed them all of the tricks already, but this Robin's eagerness to learn was amusing and the others couldn't help but to celebrate with him. It was probably in part due to his young age. His free spirited youth was refreshing to the well seasoned group of teens. Of course, he wouldn't be like that forever. That's what worried the Team. Once Robin outgrew his training wheels and was allowed out into the world with less of a leash, who would be the vibrant newbie? Who would be the one to lighten the mood? Wally couldn't do it forever; he was already showing signs of becoming a more serious hero.

Upon coming to that realization, Megan interrupted the arguing of Kid Flash and Robin by asking, "Do you think we need more people?"

"What?" Wally asked, directing his attention away from the bird and towards the Martian. He'd stopped flirting with Megan after he found out she and Connor were dating.

"Well, we're getting older," the Martian began, "We can't all be in Young Justice forever. Someday we're going to join the League and a new Team of young heroes will be needed. If we start expanding now, we'll be better prepared for when that time comes."

"That makes sense," Connor agreed.

"How do you suggest we go about finding more heroes?" Kaldur asked, neither confirming nor denying his support in the idea.

"We watch the news?" Artemis half heartedly suggested.

"Or we could call up people we already know," Zatanna said, "Like your friends in Atlantis, Kaldur, aren't they well trained?"

The Atlantian nodded, "Yes, Garth and Tula have been trained in the mystical arts as I have been."

"And Batgirl!" Robin added, "She may not be team ready now, but she will be in a year or so. Especially with me around to bug her."

"Dude, you're not even team ready yet," Kid Flash deadpanned.

"…Not the point," the younger teen grumbled.

"Ok, if we do get all these new people to join up, how will we manage all of them?" Raquel questioned.

"I have a plan," Kaldur said.

"Care to share?" Artemis asked.

Kaldur seemed to hesitate for a bit before saying, "I don't wish to tell you the plan inaccurately. If you will allow me, it's in my room."

"We're not going anywhere, by all means, go get it," Raquel told the Atlantian with a smile. The others all nodded in agreement, so Kaldur left to go find this "plan" of his. A few moments later, the leader reemerged with a thick manila folder in his hands.

"I guess you really do have a plan…" Kid Flash said impressed. He hadn't been expecting a literal, professional, long to read, and most likely boring plan.

"Yes, the plan was a…gift, given to me some time ago," Kaldur explained as he returned to his seat and set the folder on the small table in front of him.

"Really?" Zatanna asked, "Who would hand out plans for organizing a team as a gift?"

Robin's head perked up and he made eye contact with Kaldur, he knew exactly who would do such a thing. After all, Bats are always prepared.

"It was Robin," the second Robin stated. The others all gave him weird looks.

"Uh dude," Wally said, "Why are you talking in third person?" His voice was uneasy, maybe a little panicked. The topic of the first Robin was still touchy in the hero community and Wally, as well as the others, wanted to avoid it as much as possible, even if it meant grasping at straws.

The current Robin just looked at the Team, calculating, studying. Finally he sighed, "You guys know who I mean."

"And he is correct," Kaldur admitted, "Shortly before he…left us… Robin gave me this folder and told me that it's what he'd do if he were leader. He told me that, in case I needed assistance in making decisions and he wasn't around I would have a reference. I just assumed that he meant if he were on a mission with Batman while we too have a mission scheduled. Now, I think he may have been planning ahead for other instances as well."

"So, that folder is our last link to the first Robin's mind," the current Robin marveled, "But, it seems sort of small…"

"Small? That folder is completely full!" Raquel exclaimed.

"What I mean is that, in order to have his opinions on the numerous amounts of issues that can arise for a leader written down on paper, that one folder is way too small. Were there more?"

In response to Robin's question, Kaldur just shook his head no.

"Well," the Boy Wonder thought aloud, "Did you check his room? I mean, he had one here although he never used it. So, maybe he stashed the rest of them in there."

"But, we never go in Robin's room. It would be an invasion of his privacy!" Megan was horrified at the younger boy's implications.

"Megan," Zatanna said sadly, "I know you don't like it, but the first Robin is dead. He's been dead for over a year now. I agree with the present Robin. If there's useful information in that room, we should go in."

"I think that's what he wanted anyway," Connor guessed.

"What makes you say that?" the Martian asked.

"Well, one day after sparring he asked me if it was okay that he had a stash of kryptonite stored in his room. I told him I didn't mind, but he gave me this anyway," the Boy of Steel pulled a small key out of his pocket, "He told me that if I wanted to get rid of it I could. He said it was in a lead box under his bed…"

"So, are we going to see if there's more info in his room, or not?" Artemis asked impatiently, "We have a way in thanks to Connor's key. The only thing holding us back is ourselves."

The Team looked around the room dejectedly. While he'd been around, the one rule was to never enter Robin's room. But, now he wasn't around. There was a new Robin. It was about time they came to terms with their friend's death, it'd been over a year ago after all. Maybe going into the abandoned room was their final step to officially coming to terms with his death. The room that'd once been labeled his was not going to haunt the teens any longer.

"So," Robin, the first of the new era of Young Justice, said somewhat eagerly, "what are we waiting for?"

* * *

"_You failed me Renegade, failure is not taken lightly," Deathstroke's sinister voice reproached the young man who'd entered his hideout._

_Renegade gave no response. That was unusual for the boy, he usually responded with an apology after getting reprimanded. Behind his mask, Deathstroke raised an eyebrow and slowly turned to face the apprentice whom he'd had his back to. What he saw was entirely unexpected. _

_An extremely furious Renegade was mid strike with an eskrima stick. Deathstroke barely ducked under the attack. He was given no time to recover however, as Renegade's other eskrima stick was sailing right towards his side. _

_Catching the ungrateful boy's second attack, Deathstroke aimed a punch at Renegade's head. The younger male flipped out of the way, leaving his left hand's eskrima stick in Deathstroke's hold. Said man just tossed it aside like it was garbage._

"_What has gotten into you?" Deathstroke hissed at Renegade._

"_Sense," was the younger man's simple response as he charged his master of almost a year again._

"_Tell me," Deathstroke droned as he blocked Renegade's attacks and threw some of his own, "how much sense does it make to attack your superior?" To prove his point, Deathstroke swiped Renegade's feet out from under him._

_As he rolled away from Deathstroke's attempted stomping of his head, Renegade stated, "It makes a lot of sense."_

"_Please, explain," Deathstroke unsheathed the sword strapped to his back._

_Renegade unsheathed his own short swords, tossing aside his one remaining eskrima stick, "Gladly."_

_Then the two of them attacked. Like seasoned fighters, the two men ducked under swipes, jumped over attempted trips, and at times did all around dirty moves. All of which was done in the hopes of disarming their opponent. _

_Suddenly, Deathstroke's blade made contact with flesh. It slashed across Renegade's chest, causing the younger to give a cry of pain and quickly back up. Deathstroke just chuckled darkly when he saw the blood come oozing out of the boy's wound. _

"_Did you honestly think that you could win?" The mercenary began circling his injured quarry. "Against me, the man who taught you everything you know? I overestimated you Renegade, and to think-"_

"_Richard," a quiet, yet firm, voice hissed from the teen bleeding in the middle of the room._

"_What did you say?" Deathstroke growled threateningly._

"_I'm not Renegade," the younger's voice was louder now; "My name is Richard Grayson."_

"_Was. Your name was Richard Grayson."_

"_And still is," the teen snarled as he gripped his swords tighter, "Just because the world may think he's gone doesn't mean he is."_

_Deathstroke's eyes narrowed, his tone deadly, "So that's what this is about. Hope. That blasted Red Hood put false ideas in your head. How precious."_

_Suddenly Deathstroke pounced, knocking the ex-Renegade to the ground causing him to drop his weapons. The more seasoned fighter then held his own sword to the younger man's neck._

"_You listen to me, because I'm only going to tell you this once," Deathstroke seethed, slamming Richard's head into the cement ground with the hand he wasn't using to hold the sword, "Nobody besides me can truly see your potential. Everyone outside of these walls, when they look upon you, sees a monster. A traitor. You're worthless to them and now that you've gotten rebellious, you're worthless to me. How sad, a boy with such promise, dying alone at the hands of his mentor."_

_Fire rekindled in Dick's eyes, hidden by the mask. A fire he'd lost since foolishly following the man who'd manipulated him by feeding him tales that appealed to his buried rage and pride. "You are not my mentor!" the fifteen-year-old shouted, energy seemingly coming from nowhere seeping into his limbs. _

_With the sudden boost, Dick managed to roll himself over, spinning Deathstroke's wrist in the process. Both men were stunned to find that, after the small tussle was over, Dick was the one holding the sword to Deathstroke's neck._

_Shaking still with rage, Dick poked the sword deeper into the older man's neck. He then reached out with his other hand and managed to grab one of his discarded short swords from nearby. He held his newly obtained weapon slightly above the one he'd taken from the mercenary. _

"_You are not my mentor," Dick stated again, this time through heavy breaths, "Batman is my mentor. Red Hood is my mentor. You are just a monster, a murderer."_

_For his part, Deathstroke was in shock. He'd lost to his own pupil, overconfidence, arrogance, and underestimating his opponent were the factors behind this defeat. Such rookie mistakes were beneath him…yet, despite his loss, Deathstroke felt a surge of satisfaction and pride. He was the cause of this young man's power. He was the reason that a once hero was prepared to stab him. He was the reason that Richard John Grayson was now a ruthless fighter. But, the boy wasn't ready yet. He still had much potential still stored within him. _

_With a smile at the ex-Robin behind his mask, Deathstroke sneered, "And after killing me, you will become one. Imagine what Batman would say if he were to see his precious boy pointing swords at a disarmed man. He'd be so proud."_

"_Shut up." Dick hissed, teeth gritted, sword s unwavering._

"_Vowing not to kill, yet you're prepared to do so without a second thought. And you truly saw yourself as a hero? Heroes aren't like you, you're not like them. You're meant to be the villain. I can feel the hatred flowing off of you, nobody from the League or your little team of sidekicks will ever want someone capable of such intense detestation working with them."_

"_I said, shut up!"_

"_And your parents. How do you think they feel about what you've become? What I've turned you into? You're not their good little Robin anymore, are you? You are a weapon now. A weapon forged by Batman, the League, Young Justice, Red Hood, and me. You're parents must be even more proud of you than that pathetic Bat."_

"_SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Dick's rage, built up through Deathstroke's speech, reached a boiling point. Instinct took over for the teen, and in an instant he found himself raising the swords above his head, and driving them down on his tormentor._

_Then, at the last possible second, something plowed into him, knocking him away from Deathstroke. Dick and the force that'd ruined his revenge were sent tumbling across the cement flooring, and when he'd finally stopped moving, the teen quickly hopped up to figure out what'd happened. That's when he noticed two things._

_One, it wasn't a thing that had prevented him from killing Deathstroke, it was a who. To be more precise, it was Red Arrow. Somehow the archer had found the warehouse and had taken it upon himself to prevent Dick from committing his first murder._

_The second thing that the last Flying Grayson noticed was that Deathstroke the Terminator was gone. Red Arrow's untimely interruption had given the murdering bastard enough time to escape. Dick was now officially pissed off._

_And not at Deathstroke._

_Or at himself._

_He was utterly and completely pissed off at Red freakin' Arrow for ruining his moment. Ruining HIS revenge! The red-head had no right! _

_Whirling on the archer in absolute fury, Dick shouted, "What was that!? What the hell were you thinking!?"_

_Red Arrow, who was still in the process of standing up, just looked at his young friend in shock. The archer honestly had not believed Red Hood's tale about Dick becoming somewhat of a (potentially crazy) villain, but after having to prevent the boy from committing murder, and seeing his rage afterwards, the red-head was starting to believe the gun toting antihero._

"_Well?" Dick asked impatiently, irritation obvious in his voice. _

_Finally standing to his full height again, Red Arrow ignored the younger's question and decided to ask one of his own. "Were you seriously planning on killing him?" _

"_Yes." That was the response. Simple, straight to the point, and not at all what Roy Harper wanted to hear._

"…_And you're okay with this? What about justice?"_

"_Of course I'm okay with this! And justice? What about it? Only people who have a chance at redemption deserve justice. Monsters, like the one you just let get away, deserve death, or worse!" _

_Roy's mouth dropped. That was something he never EVER expected to hear come from Dick's mouth. The boy had always been the upstanding prodigy, a paragon for other sidekicks. His sense of justice was one that even members of the Justice League wished they had. Now, it was tainted, and Roy highly doubted it'd ever go back._

_What'd happened to the original Robin? _

_Continuing as if he wasn't acting completely out of character, Dick walked toward his figurative big brother and asked again, "Now, why did you stop me from ending that man's life?" He sounded calm. As if this was normal. There wasn't a trace of the previous venom that'd been in his voice; the only reason Red Arrow knew Dick was still pissed off was because of his tightly fisted left hand. _

"_Why'd I stop you? I stopped you because you were being an idiot!"_

_Renegade's mouth quirked downwards, "How would eliminating him be an idiotic move? Think RA! Now, because of you, he's still alive. He's free to kill, to kidnap, to torture! Do you have any idea what he's capable of!?"_

_Looking his young friend up and down, noting the changes in him, Red Arrow stated solemnly, "I believe I do." _

_The younger male's face scrunched up in confusion, which soon turned to fury. "NO YOU DON'T!" Dick shouted, before suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to breath. It was in that instant that the fifteen year old remembered the wound on his chest…and something Deathstroke told him in his first month of servitude. Something about how the mercenary always coated his weapons in poison, in case his pray somehow manages to escape. _

_And he'd been sliced across his chest with Deathstroke's very own sword. _

"_Dick?" Roy questioned, having seen the younger boy's rapid shift from enraged and angry to silent and frozen. That's when he heard the boy's wheezing. "You okay?"_

_The red-head's masked eyes met those of his figurative little brother. _

"_Roy," the teen gasped out, barely capable taking in air, "We've got a problem."_

_And then he passed out, leaving a panicked and highly concerned Red Arrow in his wake. _

* * *

Jason watched as his little brother tossed and turned in his bed. Another nightmare apparently. Why was Jason even in Dick's room? Well, he didn't care, that's for sure. He'd just heard Dick yelling and wanted to make sure there wasn't a burglar in his apartment taking his things…Obviously.

…Oh, who was he kidding? He, the incredibly badass Red Hood, cared for the little parasite who'd stolen his place as Batman's sidekick. Despite what the kid may say in protest on that matter.

Exiting the boy's room, Jason couldn't help but reminisce on the night Roy had brought the unconscious and heavily bleeding boy to the apartment. The young men instantly made sure everyone was in their civvies and headed for the nearest hospital. Surprisingly for Jason, Jade met them there. Apparently Roy had told her about Dick and the assassin had quickly made her way over. She'd already created some wild story about a revenge seeking abusive mother, and invented a fake medical history explaining away all of Dick's scars for the hospital. So, without anything to occupy them, the three young adults just waited. And waited. And waited.

Five hours later, a doctor came out and informed the concerned trio that Dick had a seizure during surgery. The seizure was a result of a poison put on the "butcher knife" Dick and Jason's "mother" had used to hurt him with. In the end, the doctor informed, Dick had to be placed in a medically induced coma. His wake up time was uncertain.

It was about five days after getting admitted to the hospital that Dick finally woke up. He woke up screaming, but he still woke up.

The doctors gladly informed Roy, Jason, and a surprisingly resilient and motherly Jade that whatever poison Dick's "mother" had used on him had successfully left his system, finally. His head was healing nicely. His chest wound was not infected. He could go home in two days.

Two days after returning to the apartment, Dick told his three older friends (he and Jade got along surprisingly well when he was coherent) what Slade had done to him. And what he'd wanted to do to Slade.

Now, a little over a week after Jason had had his run in with Renegade, Dick was home. He was healing. He was safe. Things weren't back to normal yet, and they never would be, but Jason could handle it.

After all, he was the Goddamn Red Hood, and if anyone could help Dick out, it was him.

He knew from personal experience what it was like to come back from Hell.

* * *

"You know, I've changed my mind. I don't want to go in there anymore," Robin admitted as the group of young heroes known as Young Justice crowded around a closed metal door.

"Don't tell me you're chickening out; it was your idea," Wally taunted.

"Well, what if he wouldn't want us in there? I may be making us overstep our boundaries…"

"He gave Connor a key; if it makes your conscience feel better we'll get the kryptonite he told him about. Personally, I think this is what Rob would've wanted. I don't think he'd want his stuff preserved here for all eternity."

Connor, ready to get this over with, butted in, "Can I open the door now?"

"Go ahead," Artemis answered for the group, sending a pointed look at Robin not to voice his doubts. This was something that had to get done sooner or later.

With a nod, Connor turned his attention to the door, only to find that there wasn't a keyhole.

Noticing Superboy's dilemma, Robin advised, "Put your hand on the pad next to the door. If he gave you a key, you're probably recorded there."

"What pad? There isn't…." Connor's impending frustration was cut off once he looked to the right of the door and noticed a hand scanner. Shrugging, the Boy of Steel placed his right hand on the designated area.

"**Recognized: Connor**"

The Team looked at each other in confusion. The computer never recognized people by their first names, unless their first name was also there hero ID. Like Zatanna. And Artemis. And Zatara when he wasn't Doctor Fate. The security for Robin I's room, the teens' guessed, must've been customized, which wasn't a very far fetched notion.

"**Connor Access Status:**"

Yep, definitely a customized computer.

"**Granted.**"

After the computerized voice gave its approval of entry, the pad where Connor had scanned his hand slid up, revealing a small slot. Without further delay, Connor put the key Robin I had given him into the newly revealed slot. As soon as the key was in, the whole box that had supported both the hand scanner and key hole emitted a radiant yellow light. The light was so bright that several of the gathered teens had to shield their eyes.

As soon as the light was gone, the Team found to their horror that the box that'd been glowing previously was now completely closed off by steel plating. It took the key with it.

"Great, now what?" Raquel asked in frustration.

Then the door slid open and the mysterious room of the original Boy Wonder was exposed.

The Team had placed bets since their founding about what the room looked like. Some said it'd be plain, with no personal details. Others said it'd look like a mini Batcave, filled with computers, case files, and an armory of birdarangs. None of them were expecting his room to look…normal.

The bed was rested against the middle of the left wall, the closet to the right, and a nightstand with a lamp and an alarm clock to the left. The black and green covers on the bed were kicked to the side still from the last time the room had been used, which was over a year ago. On the nightstand a book was laying open, spine up. The first Boy Wonder had saved his page with the hopes of finishing the story, a chance he never got. Directly across from the door was a desk with Robin the First's precious laptop sitting on top. Along with the laptop, there was an iPod dock and an assortment of video games piled up. Next to the desk on the ground was another pile, this time though, the pile was an assortment of books. Under the desk was a small trash can. The wheelie chair that was meant to be in front of the desk was right next to the door. Apparently, the Robin I had thought it'd be fun to roll the chair around the room, he had been a kid still…

Nothing in the room would suggest that its owner was anything special. Nothing, that is, except for what was against the right wall. Against that wall there stood a large filing cabinet, probably stocked full of information that'd never seen the light of day since being stashed in there. The main thing of interest, however, was the supercomputer with a rather large screen that stood next to the cabinet. On the rather large screen was an image of Robin. Not the new one, the first one. Right on top of his face was a slightly translucent pause sign.

It was a video.

"Should we watch it?" Megan asked after everyone finished their perusing of the room and gathered in front of the mysterious video.

"That's why it's up," the new Robin said, "That's why there was the light with the key; the slot was connected to this computer so that once it recognized the key this video would come up. He, er…Robin set everything up."

Not waiting for further discussion, Wally nervously pushed play. He hadn't seen or heard his friend since his death; he knew that watching the video would bring back memories especially since it appeared that the Robin being shown was still thirteen.

"_Hey guys,"_ the Robin on the screen greeted, a smirk that everyone missed dearly gracing his features, _"So I'm sure you're all wondering how I know you're all there, rather than just Connor, since he's the one I gave the key to."_

They actually were curious about that. If the video was linked through the insertion of the key, what made him think Connor wouldn't try to get the rumored kryptonite that was under the bed?

"_The answer is simple, Connor trusts me….Ugh…I guess it would be trusted, wouldn't it? The only thing that'd prompt a trip to my room would be that, for some reason, I'm not there. Knowing you guys, after the key got brought up, you all decided to come too. That's why I made this video! For whatever reason I'm gone, I don't want all of this stuff," he made a gesture towards the layout of his room behind him, "to go to waste. It'd be totally not asterous for all of my video games to sit here collecting dust. So, they're all yours Wally! No way are you going to beat my high scores, trust me."_

"He totally hacked them," Wally muttered fondly, he missed being able to argue with his younger friend about whether or not he hacked into the games they played.

The Robin on the screen grinned mischievously, _"I totally hacked them, and I admit it. I don't think the authors of my books would appreciate them rotting here either so… Zee, enjoy! I know you told me once how much you missed just reading a good book since joining this line of work, hope this helps. What else? Umm…Artemis! If you lift the mattress off of my bed, you'll find a small metal handle. Lift it up and you'll find my spare weapons. That sounds a bit harsh…gadgets. You'll find my spare gadgets, they're the ones I don't normally use, but have anyway. Feel free to pick and choose."_

Zatanna and Artemis looked at each other somberly, having reached the same conclusion. This video was Robin's will. He was dividing his things amongst his teammates, his friends.

"_Connor, the kryptonite is still yours to take. It's exactly where I said it'd be. Megan, I know how much you like watching Earth television, so my movie collection is all yours. They should be piled just inside of my closet. Raquel, I distinctly remember you coming to the Mountain one day bragging about your new iPod, so I figured that I better give you my iPod dock, seeing as you're going to need one. Even if you do have one, mine's better. It's state of the art and isn't even supposed to be released to the public for another few months. Well, from now. I don't know when exactly you'll be watching this…Anyway, lastly but certainly not least, Kaldur. That folder I gave you, as you may have guessed, doesn't hold a lot of info. It just has a general outline for expansion of the Team."_

The teens held their breath anxiously; this was just what they came here for. The information Robin the First had could prove vital to the Team in years to come. He never did reveal to them all just how strategic he could be. His plans could potentially prevent major disasters or save numerous lives. It all depended on what he had.

"_When you first told me that I'd lead one day, I began creating contingency plans, ways to use combinations of certain skill sets, what to do in case certain baddies appear. Then we had that simulation and I realized that I didn't want to lead anymore."_

That struck everyone by surprise. None of them knew he'd felt that way, especially after he successfully led factions of the team on missions Aqualad could not be on. They all forgot that he was just a kid. He had doubts and fears just like them. After his death, his personal faults seemed to have disappeared in their eyes. They'd been raising him up to seem almost faultless. This video made the team remember just who Robin had been.

He'd been their little brother.

Now they had another one, and they were not going to lose him.

"_Even though the leader bug left me, I still worked on plans. After all, good leaders such as you need a go to strategist, and you are a good, natural leader Kal. Don't sell yourself short. Anyway, strategist, that's my goal... or it was. Hence the huge filing cabinet. It has basically everything I came up with. It's all categorized too. Just type up something on this computer and it'll tell you what you need and where to find it. There're also several folders stored on this computer. Got to love technology!"_

Kaldur stared at the large cabinet in shock. How Robin thought of so many scenarios, and ways to get out of them, was beyond him. He was just thankful that he'd have the wisdom of his fallen friend to assist him in the trying years to come. Robin told him not to sell himself short, maybe it was Robin who'd been the one selling his own self short.

"_None of you guys know I'm making this right now, did you know that? Well, obviously you don't. None of you guys are here, again. This is the second time this month that you've pulled me off of a mission. What is it with this Deathstroke guy that makes you guys so protective?"_

Wally remembered Deathstroke. He was a mercenary that completely beat the crap out of them. The first time against the man, Robin had been ordered not to go because they didn't want him to get hurt again. The image of him lying there with a knife imbedded in his side was still fresh in everyone's mind. It was during that utterly disastrous (heavy on the dis) mission that the Team found out that Deathstroke was a bit too curious about the Boy Wonder. He kept asking why Robin wasn't there, what he thought of being left behind, if they thought he felt betrayed. It was not a good experience. On the ride back to the Mountain to report their failure, the Team opted not to mention Deathstroke's interest in Robin to Robin (they didn't think he'd let it rest, and agreed he'd probably obsessively try to find him) and they also decided not to bring him on any missions if that man was involved. It was for his safety. Wally was the only one against it, knowing it'd hurt his friend if he was held back without knowing why. Turns out he was right.

"_It doesn't matter anyway; although if you think I'm a liability I'd rather you just say it. If this keeps up though, I won't be in your hair for much longer. As you can see, I'm a planner; I'm prepared for if it comes to that. In case I have to leave, I don't want this room to become an empty bedroom. The furniture can get removed and replaced with more tech. Something I noticed that the Mountain is missing, is a place to just research and examine evidence. That's a focal point of the Batcave so that's what this room is going to be. My laptop has all of my ideas, my theories; that's why I leave it here now. Just in case. Besides, I got a new one. Oh, the password is 1491625."_

Robin, who had been studiously scrutinizing his predecessor, was stunned. He'd heard a lot about Dick's version of Robin. How he was playful, talkative, easy to underestimate, and hard working. He'd heard he was great at combat, was a fast learner, and had almost flawless aim. Not once did someone call him proactive, calculating, or systematic. Robin doubted that he'd hear those descriptions anytime soon too. Because, unlike most people, he noticed things, he had the time to do it. What he noticed was that underneath the easygoing, childish, and happy exterior, on the inside Dick was different. He was hiding something. He was pretending.

He was pretending that he wasn't like Batman.

"_And that's about it. Robin out."_

But, he was an awful lot like Batman.

Or, at least, he had been.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it. Chapter 9. Done. Finished. Over with. ONE CHAPTER LEFT!**

**Then the sequel :D ...Which isn't going to be posted until I come up with a definitive plotline. **

**Chapter ten is going to wrap things up; it won't be very long. **

**Keep in mind, everything not clarified in this story will be brought up again in the sequel.**

**Hope you liked it!**


	10. Dawn

**A/N: Last chapter :( It has been a great ride guys! This chapter, I believe, is a great way to wrap this up in a way for me to pick things back up in the sequel. I don't think I put in too much language this cchapter...Um...I own nothing.**

**Oh yeah, at the end there is a sort of back and forth of past to present. I hope it isn't too confusing.**

**I'd like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, or simply enjoyed this story!**

**The last Review Responses:**

_**Miss Dunkelbunt: **_**Thank you so much for submitting a review! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Also, don't worry, for I have developed a plotline for the sequel!**

_**mixxi: **_**Aw, thanks for saying complimenting the descriptions! And thanks for being a constant reviewer throughout the story! I appreciate the feedback! :D**

_**kuromi123: **_**Looking back, I noticed that you reviewed almost if not every chapter. Thanks a bunch for being so dedicated! You're suggestions were actually very helpful. I'm not going to spoil anything, but they did lead to me thinking up certain elements that are going to be in the next story! Once again, thanks a ton for being such a wonderful reader!**

_**AvenJackel: **_**I was very surprised, and highly pleased, to read your review. It was so positive and everytime I look at it I smile. Bonus points for saying awesome ^^ Thank you for the super awesom review!**

**Chapitre time! **

**Yes, I did spell chapter like that on purpose. **

* * *

**Chapter 10- Dawn**

* * *

_The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn, and shine with increasing clearness on your path.__  
__―__Jim Rohn_

* * *

"You sure you're ready?" Jason asked Dick, putting on his helmet as he carefully watched his brother.

Dick nodded, "It's been close to five months, I'm positive I'm ready."

"You still have nightmares."

"So do you."

"Touché."

"In all honesty Jay, I need this. I've been going stir crazy just hanging around the apartment."

Jason appraised his younger brother. Finally he nodded and ruffled the younger boy's hair. "I understand," he said, and with a glare added "But know this; I'm gonna be keeping a close eye on you."

Dick chuckled. "I expected nothing less," he said as he fixed his messed up hair.

"Sorry to ruin your little love fest," Arsenal, aka Roy Harper's third alias, spoke up from where he and Cheshire were by the window of the apartment, "But that arms shipment isn't going to wait all night for us to get there. We all know how cranky Hood gets when he doesn't get new toys, so can we please get a move on?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Jason, now decked out as the Red Hood, said nonchalantly, "Oh, here's your mask kid. Know what we're gonna call you yet?"

"Nothing has sounded right so far; I'll tell you when I know. Now come on, I haven't stopped an arms deal since leaving Gotham!" the overly excited fifteen-year-old Dick Grayson exclaimed. He was wearing a suit similar to his Renegade outfit, except in the places where that one had been red, this one was blue. When asked about it, Dick had explained that Renegade was a part of who he was now; he couldn't just completely toss out that part of his life (despite how much he secretly wanted to). He also added that where Renegade had worn red, which Dick had associated with the blood of the lives he'd ruined, his new suit had blue, because according to him, that color had a lot of symbolism that related to his new persona. Freedom, strength, new beginnings, protection…That, and he really liked blue.

Arsenal looked at the masked teen and said, "I think we should set some ground rules before we let you do this Dick. As this is your first hero gig in a while, I think it'd be best if you….Shit! That little-"

"Watch your language Harper!" Red Hood interrupted in amusement, getting ready to grapple after his brother who'd taken off during Arsenal's attempted rule giving.

"That kid spends way too much time with you, I swear, each time I see him he does something else that- Oh for the love of God! He was right there!" Following his brother's example, Red Hood had taken off while Arsenal was talking.

Cheshire just shrugged, "Did you expect him to hang about? Come on, I've got a target, Hood needs some toys, and the kid has to create a name for himself."

"He needs to _pick_ a name first," Arsenal muttered under his breath, "By the way, why am I doing this? Cheshire?" Looking around, the archer once again found the person he'd been talking to gone.

"Is it that hard to just say goodbye?" the exasperated red-head asked as he readied an arrow to zip line from, "I swear some people have no manners."

* * *

"You sure you're ready?" Wally asked Kaldur as they walked down the halls of Mount Justice.

"Yes. I believe so," the Atlantian responded.

"Dude, it's okay to be nervous. I mean, after today you're going to be leading, like, ten people."

"And the number will only continue to grow as time goes on."

"Exactly!" the speedster exclaimed, "So, how're you feeling about all of this?"

"Honestly, I am…anxious," Kaldur admitted, "Up until this team formed, I was a soldier. Now, I am a leader. The transition has been unexpected, if not difficult. I do not know if I am ready, or if I will ever be ready, to lead the number of aspiring heroes we are expecting to recruit in the near future."

"Kal, you're going to do fine! Sure, you're going to make mistakes, but you're only human. Er…Atlantian. You're not perfect, nobody is. The fact that you have doubts though makes me confident that you're the right man, er…Atlantian, for the job. If you felt perfectly fine then I'd be worried."

"But what if I fail? I have already failed once…"

"Dude, he was with Batman when he-"

"That is not what I was referring to," Kaldur interrupted, "When I made the decision to leave him behind, I made him feel insignificant. I made him question his place on this team."

"We decided to leave him Kal. It was a group decision, not just yours. And sure, he probably felt confused and angry, but wanna know something about Rob? He always believed in you. So do I, and the others, they all believe in you."

"You are surprisingly good at calming nerves Wally," Kaldur noted.

"Yeah," the speedster said sheepishly, "I've had a lot of practice with Artemis."

"And how are things with the two of you?"

"Same as always, I eat, she snaps, we argue, I eat, we argue some more, I eat, she rolls her eyes, I do something stupid, she laughs, I laugh, we make up, I eat some more."

"Do you not get tired of arguing so much?"

"You kidding? It makes everything more exciting. Besides, our arguments are usually dumb anyway and we know it. We just like trying to outwit each other."

"That is…good to hear?"

Silence ascended the pair as they continued walking down the halls. It was odd how, in the time since the first Robin's death and Red Arrow's fall from grace, Wally and Kaldur had gotten closer together. Now the only two sidekicks (partners) remaining from the original four, the two vigilantes were the only link the other had to the good ol' days. When Robin was cackling and disappearing. When Roy would throw a hissy fit, but still be there for his friends, his brothers. When Kid Flash was crashing into doors and getting on the Batman's nerves. When Kaldur's job was following orders and not making his own.

In the good ol' days, they were still children. Young, inexperienced, eager to please, eager to learn, and eager to fight the good fight. In the good ol' days they were invincible. They were protected, and sure, they knew they could get hurt, maybe even die, but it was in the back of their minds. In the good ol' days, the responsibility fell to the mentors.

Now, they were growing up. Their lives were falling apart around them, their friends were going rogue, or dying, and they found themselves surrounded by new faces, new battles, and new responsibilities. Responsibilities that, as fledgling heroes, they never imagined being so stressful, never even imagined falling to them before they got old like their mentors. That was probably the underlying message.

They were growing up.

They were the future.

The past was in the past, the present was now, and the future was what they were looking towards.

That was the reason behind the announcement Aqualad made later that day, as he stood before the Team. His team.

"I would like to introduce you to four new members of Young Justice. Meet Tempest, Aquagirl, Cyborg, and Outburst."

* * *

"You sure you're ready?" a now sixteen year old Dick Grayson asked cockily, eskrima sticks grasped in each hand.

"Are you?" Jason asked irritably before attacking again.

Dick just smiled and let the elder charge, then at the last possible second he ducked down while jabbing the eskrima stick in his left hand into Jason's gut. Winded, and a bit vexed, Jason stumbled backwards and pulled out his collapsible bo staff.

This was their third round of sparring that night, the previous two of which Dick had won. It appeared as though, however unpleasant, his training with Deathstroke was really paying off. Now, the not so young anymore ex-Boy Wonder was able to exhibit three styles of fighting. The finesse, meant to incapacitate but not seriously harm, style of Batman. The more street like, choppy, and yet somehow still honed and professional style of Red Hood. The strict, calculated, sharp, meant to seriously harm and kill, style of Deathstroke.

All good, all effective, and all dangerous.

Jason was pinned again.

"You know what?" the twenty one year old anti-hero asked as his little brother pulled him up, "Screw you."

Dick rolled his eyes behind his mask, "You're just a sore loser."

Jason extended his middle finger.

"Now that's just rude Jay," the ever so common voice of Roy Harper said as he appeared on the other side of their typical sparring building.

"The cocky little bastard deserved it," muttered Jason.

"Why?"

"He's just upset he lost," taunted the seriously pressing his luck Dick as he put away the eskrima sticks.

Roy examined Dick, he hadn't seen the kid for about a month now (he and Jason were another story, seeing as they crossed paths on occasion during their extracurricular activities) and he was surprised to find that the kid couldn't actually be called a kid anymore. Now about half an inch shorter than Jason, Dick could no longer be considered small for his age. His face had lost all remaining bits of baby fat as well as that naïve innocence that was always reflected in his eyes, now he had that mischievous "I'm up to no good" spark that most teenagers have.

_It's only been a month, _Roy thought in slight shock at the young man his figurative little brother was turning into, _he was probably like this before and I hadn't noticed yet._

"Roy?" Dick's voice, and hand waving in front of his face, brought the archer out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," the red-head apologized, "What'd you want?"

"I asked if you could help me modify the motorcycle I bought last week."

"Oh sure, what do you want me to do with it? New paint job? New engine? Fix something?"

Dick smirked, eyes alight, as though he had a secret that only he knew about, "Something like that."

Roy looked towards Jason in confusion, the other young man just shrugged nonchalantly, while fiddling with his handgun.

"Bats…" was all the archer said before taking off. He was not going to catch the crazy that all members of the Batfamily seemed to have.

* * *

"_You sure you're ready?" a smiling Bruce Wayne asked his ward, nine year old Richard Grayson._

"_I've been looking forward to today for ages! Of course I'm ready!" the boy exclaimed, bouncing in excitement, "I can't wait to meet __**the**__ Superman! It's going to be so cool!"_

"_And living with the Batman isn't cool?" the billionaire asked with a mischievous smirk._

_Dick's eyes widened, "Of course it's cool Bruce! There's no way this Kent guy can be any cooler than you!"_

* * *

"You sure you're ready?"

"Yeah, it's what I've been preparing for."

"You got a name yet?"

"I've been thinking about it, and I believe I do."

* * *

"_Dick, this is Clark Kent. He's-"_

"_Superman!" young Dick exclaimed, interrupting Bruce's introduction, "Wow, you're wearing glasses! Is that for your secret ID? It's not real good, is it? Has Lois figured it out yet? Do you know who Bruce is? Wait, yes you do! He told me you do! Isn't Batman like, the coolest hero you know, not counting yourself? Are you really from Krypton? Are you and the Flash really special friends like that magazine said?"_

"_That's enough Dick," Bruce said hastily, before Dick could ask the Man of Steel anymore inappropriate questions. _

"_It's fine Bruce," Clark said in amusement, "The boy's just curious."_

"_Dick, remember what I told you earlier?" the billionaire asked his ward, ignoring the other man's careless handling of such a profane question. _

"_Oh yeah! Sorry Mr. Kent. I'm only supposed to ask one question at a time," Dick apologized. _

"_It's fine, so what do you want to know first?"_

_The boy's face scrunched in concentration. He wanted to ask a real good question, after all, it wasn't everyday you met Superman for the first time. In the end, he settled for, "Do you know any stories from Krypton?"_

_Clark tilted his head in puzzlement, boys of Dick's age had never asked him that before. With a shrug, the Kryptonian knelt down to the boy's height and said, "I may know one."_

"_Really? What's it about?"_

* * *

"Really? What is it?"

* * *

"_It's about two heroes. They went by the names of Flamebird and-" _

* * *

"Nightwing."

* * *

**A/N: The end! Fini! Over! Fin! **

**Don't fret! In a month, or two...or three... the sequel will be up! Huzzah! In it, most, if not all, questions shall be answered!**

**For example: Will the others find out Dick is alive? What did Deathstroke do to mentally screw up Dick so badly? Will Deathstroke return? What characters will I bring in?**

**SPOILER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW, SKIP THIS!**

**Three characters that I will definately have are:**

**1. Starfire**

**2. Joker (he was mentioned, but I never specifically wrote him in this one)**

**3. Tarantula**

**If you don't recognize someone (most likely Tarantula) look them up. Just be warned, it might spoil something I'm doing, but since this is an AU created from my mind, nothing will be the exact same.**

**OK, SPOILERS ARE OVER!**

**Thanks you for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the story! I also hope you all check out the sequel. I'll probably post something in here before it comes out to pump you all up.**

**Bye!**


	11. Sequel Preview and Author's Note Updated

**A/N: NOOOOOO! THIS CHAPTER DOESN'T START WITH A D! Anyway..**

**UPDATE 7/19/2013: THE SEQUEL IS OFFICIALLY BEING POSTED TODAY. IN LIKE...FIVE-ISH MINUTES! :D**

* * *

Batman's scowl deepened as he observed the young heroes before him. Every time he saw them, he couldn't help but wonder where Dick would be amongst them. Would he be taller? Hopefully. Would he be the tallest? Would he be muscular? Would he have facial hair? Would he have scars visible on his face? Would he have a girlfriend? Would he be smiling and mischievous still? Would he still be Robin? He'd be seventeen if he were still alive. Almost a man.

Shaking himself out of the train of thought usually reserved for when he was Bruce Wayne, Batman addressed the Team. Pulling up a picture, he heard gasps coming from Young Justice.

"This," the Dark Knight began, "is an image taken of the group known as the Outlaws while they were in Madrid last month. The leader of this group is Red Hood, the girl is called Starfire, and the other man is now going by Arsenal."

The picture in and of itself was relatively fuzzy. In the front was the obvious leader, the red helmet a dead giveaway to who he was. Above him, and a bit to the right, was a flying girl with orange skin and green eyes. She appeared to be shooting some type of energy beam from her hands. The man in the background was an easily recognizable face within the hero community. He was the first vigilante to ever defect. With red hair, arrows, and a bow, Speedy…erm Red Arrow….erm Arsenal, appeared to be running, with an arrow already drawn and ready to fire.

Continuing, Batman said, "We have gained some intelligence saying that the Outlaws are going to go after a shipment of kryptonite just sent to the LexCorp in Blüdhaven. Your job is to prevent them from getting it. Any questions?"

"Why aren't you going?" Batgirl asked, "Red Hood is one of your guys."

"Now that Blüdhaven has a hero, the League can't just waltz into his city. It'd bring bad press," Robin explained for his mentor, "Especially if Godfrey caught wind of it. That guy seems to adore Nightwing."

Batman nodded in agreement to Robin's assessment, causing a small smile to grace the boy's face. As he aged, Robin's detective skills were improving at an alarming rate. It was hard for the Dark Knight not to feel proud knowing that he'd helped sharpen the teen's ability. Of course, such pride was usually followed by a deep feeling of sorrow. Both Jason and Dick had died after he'd come to terms with how much he cared for them, and Bruce simply refused to have the same thing happen to Tim, especially since the boy still had his father.

In order to leave before his thoughts strayed back to his other sons anymore, Batman stated, "Batgirl, you're in charge. Anymore information you require for this mission is located in the folders just outside the Bioship." With a swish of his cape, Batman retreated back through the Zeta-Tube.

* * *

**A/N: Bam! Preview finished! Remember, it's unedited so I'm going to fix things. If you notice a typo or something and wish to help out, PM me your findings ^^ **

**As a last note, I should make you all aware of something. I have become obsessed with a new show. This means that on a mental level, I have to focus twice as hard on typing because all I want to do is finish the series! It's on Netflix, so it's all good. Anyway, the show is BBC's _Merlin_. Look it up. It's beautiful, wonderful, stupendous, and my new love. ^^**

**If you've seen it, reveal nothing that occurs after season 4! That is all. Sorry for being a slowpoke and all that, and I hope you're all excited for the sequel!**


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